The mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a U.S. Army helicopter near Washington, D.C. killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft, according to a preliminary report by the Federal Aviation Administration.
A total of 60 passengers and four crewmembers were onboard American Eagle Flight 5342, while three soldiers from Fort Belvoir were onboard the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter when the two aircraft collided and plunged into the Potomac River.
As of Friday afternoon, 41 bodies had been recovered from the river, including 28 that had been positively identified, officials said.
Here’s what we know about some of the victims of the nation’s deadliest air disaster in more than two decades.
Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter
Ryan O’Hara, staff sergeant
O’Hara, a 28-year-old from Lilburn, Ga., had served as a UH-60 helicopter repairer for the past 10 years and deployed to Afghanistan in 2017. He was honored with numerous awards for his service and heroism, including the Army Commendation Medal. Family and friends described him as a devoted husband and the father to a 1-year-old son.
Andrew Eaves, chief warrant officer 2
Eaves, a married father of two young kids, was a native of Brooksville, Miss. He served in the Navy from 2007 to 2017, before becoming a UH-60 pilot for the Army. His awards included both Army and Navy commendation and achievement medals. The 39-year-old was described by his family as a “kind, loving, fun-loving and patriotic man [who] loved his wife and kids fiercely and would have done anything to take care of them.”
At the request of the family, the identity of the third soldier killed in the crash will not be released at this time.
American Eagle Flight 5342
Among the 60 passengers and four crewmembers aboard the CRJ-700 regional jet, 14 of them were members of the figure-skating community who were returning home after attending the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp in Wichita, Kan.
Spencer Lane, skater
The 16-year-old Barrington, R.I. resident was one of six members of The Skating Club of Boston who died in the crash. He was “incredibly talented,” the group’s CEO Doug Zeghibe said Thursday, noting he was “rocketing to the top of the sport” even though he hadn’t been skating for long.
Christine Lane, Spencer’s mother
The devoted mother of two “exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting and more,” her family said in a statement.
Jinna Han, skater
The 13-year-old figure slater from Mansfield, Mass. was “a great performer, a great competitor, and off the ice, a great kid,” Zeghibe said, adding she was “loved by all.”
Jin Han, Jinna’s mother
Han and her family had been part of the Skating Club of Boston community since 2020. Jin was always supportive of not just her daughter “but every athlete,” according to Zeghibe, who described her as a “role model” parent.
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, skating coaches
The Russian-born married couple competed twice in the Olympics and won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan.
Melissa Jane Nicandri, employee at Moody’s Investors Service in Manhattan
Mayor Eric Adams confirmed Friday afternoon that Nicandri, a Brooklyn Heights resident, was one of the victims of the crash. The 28-year-old “was an amazing woman [who] had so much going for her,” her mother told Gothamist.
Nicandri, a granddaughter of retired St. Lawrence County Judge Eugene L. Nicandri, was returning to New York City via Reagan National Airport after a work trip in Kansas.
Jonathan Campos, pilot
The captain of the doomed American Eagle flight was a 2015 graduate of Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University. Friends say the 34-year-old “was really always there when you needed him.”
Sam Lilley, pilot
The first officer on Flight 5342 was a Georgia native and Georgia Southern University graduate, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Lilley, 28, was engaged to get married in the fall, his father wrote in an emotional Facebook post.
Ian Epstein, flight attendant
Epstein, one of two Charlotte, N.C.-based flight attendants working on the doomed American Eagle flight, “made flying fun for the passengers on the plane so they didn’t get scared,” his ex-wife Debi Epstein told The Charlotte Observer, adding that he “died doing what he absolutely loved.”
Danasia Elder, flight attendant
Described by her brother-in-law as “very bright [and] very smart,” the 34-year-old is survived by a husband and two children, ages 13 and 4.
Danasia Elder loved God, her kids and travel. The Charlotte woman was a flight attendant on last night’s flight from Wichita to DC. Her brother in law tells me she was full of life. She leaves behind a husband and two children, Kayden and Dallas @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/ngmnHuRqkm
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) January 30, 2025
Elizabeth Anne Keys, attorney
The 33-year-old Cincinnati native was an “excellent lawyer [who] brought fearlessness, humor, and sharp wit to work every day no matter the setting or circumstances,” her employer, the Washington-based law firm Wilkinson Stekloff, said in a statement.
Sarah Lee Best, attorney
Lee Best, 33, joined Wilkinson Stekloff as an associate last fall and “quickly energized” her colleagues “with her boundless curiosity, kindness, and intelligence.”
Grace Maxwell, college student
The 20-year-old student at Cedarville University in Ohio was heading back to school after attending her grandfather’s funeral in Kansas. She’s being remembered as a “thoughtful, quiet student leader” with a “keen interest in helping others.”
Wendy Jo Shaffer
The Charlotte, N.C. resident was a married mother of two boys, ages 3 and 1. She was described as a “radiant soul” whose “love, kindness, and unwavering spirit touched everyone who knew her.”
The victims also included a group of hunters returning from a guided trip in Kansas, four members of a steamfitters’ local union in suburban Maryland, two Chinese nationals and nine students and parents from Fairfax County, Va.
With News Wire Services
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