4 hours Ago By Evening Standard
Dancing on Ice ’s Torvill and Dean have paid tribute to the 67 people, including figure skaters, who died after an army helicopter crashed into a plane in Washington DC on Wednesday. The American Airlines plane collided with the Black Hawk on a training exercise as it came into land in Ronald Reagan Washingtion National airport just before 9pm, causing the jet to plunge into the Potomac River. There were no survivors following the accident.
Among the dead were Russian figure skaters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the pairs figure skating title at the 1994 world championships in Chiba, Japan. US figure skating has also confirmed that several skaters, coaches and their family members were on board the flight. They had been returning home from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
Paying tribute in a post on X, Torvill and Deane wrote: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of those on flight 5342 and extend our heartfelt condolences to their families and friends. May they rest in peace.” Two-time US Olympian Tonya Harding wrote on X: “The events that took place last night in Washington, DC are absolutely devastating, “I'm being told that several professional figure skaters were aboard the flight as well.
Sending my love and prayers to all the victims and their families.” Senator Maria Cantwell said that the dead also included citizens from Russia, the Philippines and Germany, and Chinese state media Xinhua reported two Chinese citizens had been killed in the crash. Meanwhile, efforts to retrieve the two aircraft involved in the crash will be pushed forward on Friday as questions grow about air safety in the US capital.
Authorities have not pinpointed a reason for the collision. President Donald Trump on Thursday questioned the actions of an army helicopter pilot and air traffic controller ahead of the deadly collision, before speculating that Democrats and diversity initiatives shared blame for the deaths. Air traffic control recordings appear to capture the final attempted communications with the helicopter, call sign PAT25, before it collided with the jet.
"PAT25, do you have a CRJ in sight? PAT25, pass behind the CRJ," an air traffic controller says at 8:47 p.m. ET (0147 GMT) on Wednesday, according to a recording on liveatc.
net. Seconds later, another aircraft calls in to air traffic control, saying, "Tower, did you see that?" - apparently referring to the crash. An air traffic controller then redirects planes heading to runway 33 to go around.
"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone. I haven't seen anything since they hit the river," an air traffic controller says. Webcam video of the crash showed the collision and an explosion lighting up the night sky.
It was the deadliest US air disaster since November 2001, when an American Airlines jet crashed after departing from John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, killing all 260 people onboard and five people on the ground..
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