On January 29, 2025, 67 lives were lost because of a tragic helicopter and plane crash in D.C. The victims were young, aspiring figure skaters coming back from a training camp in Wichita, Kansas, parents, spouses, daughters, sons, hunters getting back home from a hunting trip, business partners, army personnel, pilots and co-pilots. The crash happened midair, only a few minutes before landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport. It was a tragic loss for many across the country and even those with no connections to these people felt sadness when the news announced the devastating crash.
The crash was caused by many misleading communications between pilots of the aircrafts and the workers at the control tower. Because of the chain of miscommunications, a Black Hawk helicopter that was being used by military personnel crashed into a commercial plane that was carrying 64 people of all ages, including 4 crew members and 60 passengers. The Black Hawk helicopter was carrying 3 military personnel.
Since the crash, many skaters and families have coped with the grief in many ways. Skating rinks around the area held memorial services and therapy sessions within the rink for skating families. US Figure Skating hosted a memorial service called “Legacy on Ice” on March 2, 2025 in Washington DC. Famous skaters like Ilia Malinin and Nathan Chen performed and spoke about the tragic accident and paid tribute to the skaters that were lost in the crash.
Related Articles:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/30/us/plane-crash-dc-helicopter-reagan-airport.html
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/02/03/us/dc-plane-crash-victims.html
https://www.wvtm13.com/article/dc-plane-helicopter-crash-victims/63623529
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/plane-crash-victims-dc-american-airlines-black-hawk-rcna189980
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