A quick update for you on the tragedy that happened Wednesday night at Reagan National Airport.
American Airlines flight 5342 was carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members. The Army helicopter that collided with it had 3 service members onboard. More than 30 bodies have now been recovered.
Here is a photo of the plane's wreckage in the Potomac River:
Trump's new transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, was put through the paces in the early hours of Thursday morning. He says the plane flipped and broke into three large sections as it hit the water.
Onboard the plane were figure skaters that had competed at the National Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. This included members of U.S. Figure Skating and two Russian champion skaters.
It is unknown if their son, Maxim, was onboard the plane as well.
Here is a video of Shishkova and Naumov competing in 1994.
One of the U.S. figure skaters, Spencer Lane, posted a photo from his seat on the plane several hours before the crash.
Here he is showing off his skills.
The names of victims have not been released by authorities, but other names involved with U.S. Figure Skating are circulating on social media. Some of the victims onboard were reportedly children, including sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston:
As well as Sean Kay and Angela Yang:
If authorities release a formal list of names, or if any of this information is incorrect, I will immediately update this article.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin reported that a friend's wife was also on the flight.
This is the first mass casualty event involving a plane crash on U.S. soil since 2009, when Colgan Air Flight 3407 from Newark, New Jersey, to Buffalo, New York, stalled and crashed into a house, killing 50 people.
In addition to a statement on Wednesday evening, President Trump issued this statement on Thursday morning:
Praying for the first responders as they work to recover the bodies for the families of the victims. 😔
P.S. Now check out our latest video 👇
