The horrific mid-air collision between the American Airlines plane and the US Army Black Hawk helicopter claimed the lives of 67 people who were onboard both aircraft.
The American Airlines Flight 5342 carried 64 passengers, while the helicopter was operated by three members of the military.
Most of the passengers, including the helicopter pilots, have been identified.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed the plane’s passengers included several of its members. Among them were two ice skating sisters, Everly, 14, and Alydia,11, Livingston.
Their mother, Donna Livingston, who was also on board along with her daughters and husband, took a final photo of the girls.
She sent the photo of the beaming sisters to another US Figure Skating team mom.
The Livingstons were traveling back home from from Wichita, Kansas, where the sisters had attended an ice skating camp for young Olympic hopefuls.
Jin Ah Longerbeam, who got the photos from Livingston, told ABC News that she knew Everly and Alydia since they were very little, calling them “my little babies.”
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Longerbeam’s son, Wolfe Jin, a skating teammate and a friend of the girls, said, “Everly and Alydia were two of the brightest people at our rink. The community looked up to them.”
When they heard of the tragic crash, the mother and son rushed towards the airport in hopes of learning the fate of the Livingstons.
“[Wolfe] kept saying, ‘They’re gonna be cold … [we have to make] sure they’re warm,’ ” Longerbeam recalled.
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Everly and Alydia shared glimpses of their skating journey on their Instagram page.
They shared a photo of themselves five days before the tragic collision, writing how excited they were for the skating camp. The photo caption read, “If you look closely at Alydia’s badge… We were born ready for this. But is @usfigureskating ready for this much Livingston at Nationals?”
A year ago, Everly, whoquickly became a sensation in the ice-skating world, told Fox 5 DC: “My goals are to actually be a part of Team USA and travel around the world.”
One of the posts shared on their Instagram account on November, says, “The season is officially over and Everly is walking away with another step in her figure skating journey with making the USFS high performance development team for the 2024-2025 season.”
The girls were part of the Washington Figure Skating Club.
The tragic plane crash involved fourteen skaters.
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