The American Airlines Flight had departed Wichita, Kansas, and was coming in to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided mid-air with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter at around 9pm on Wednesday (January 29).
The plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members while three boarded the helicopter, both of which plunged into the Potomac River after the crash.
The wreckage of the aircrafts in the river (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
Now, two young ice dance partners, Angela Yang and Sean Kay, have been confirmed as two of the 67 dead.
The pair, believed to be 11 and 12-years-old, were members of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, and had been returning from the National Development Camp, held from January 20 to 26 in Kansas, to train top juvenile figure skaters.
The young girl said she had ‘lots of fun’ at the training camp (Instagram/@angelayangskates)
According to an obituary posted by a skating group on Facebook, the pair were ‘undefeated in juvenile ice dance this season’.
Footage of the duo’s performances in November has since gone viral online, which shows the pair expertly twirling around to applause.
They went on to win first place in several categories in the 2025 Midwestern Sectional Singles and US Ice Dance, held in Texas.
The skaters at the Texas competition in November (Instagram/@angelayangskates)
A spotlight story posted by the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club on Facebook said Yang started ice skating after being inspired by her siblings playing ice hockey.
UDFSC also said Kay was awarded the first in Excel Juvenile Plus Boys at the 2023 Excel Series Final.
On the day of the crash, Yang has also taken to Instagram to write that she had ‘so so much fun’ at the Wichita camp.
“I’m really gonna miss my friends and all the great coaches! I can’t wait for next year!” she wrote.
Their teacher, 46-year-old Alexandr ‘Sasha’ Kirsanov, was also killed, his widow told Delaware Online.
Natalia Gudin told the news outlet: “We always use American Airlines when we go to competition. This time they go without me, and all of them are gone.
““This young team – Sean Kay and Angela Yang – they were so amazing,” Gudin continued. “All the judges were so proud and they had such a big future. And what, all on the same plane?”
“For me, it’s a triple” loss, Gudin added.
Yang with her dancing partner, Kay (Instagram/angelayangskates)
Kirsanov was a professional ice dancer who had competed for the US, Azerbaijan and Russia, bagging a bronze medal in 2003.
The three are among several members of the sport who were on that fatal flight, as US Figure Skating confirmed dozens of its members had attended the training camp and the figure skating championships that were held in conjunction with the camp.
Among those killed were Boston’s skaters, Jinna Han, 13, and Spencer Lane, 16, as well as their mothers.
Coaches and couple, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, performing in the 1992 Winter Olympics (David Madison/Getty Images)
Lane also posted a heartbreaking final photo to his social media of the plane before it’s takeoff from Kansas.
Ice skating coaches and married couple, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also on board as their ice skating son, Maxim, reportedly confirmed to Russian media.
The couple had won the World Championships in figure skating together three decades ago in 1994 and had reportedly been living in the US since at least 1998.
There were some concerns Maxim had also been on board but he is said to have left the competition on Monday with another American figure skater, Anton Spiridonov.
