NATIONAL NEWS – Names of crash victims: 55 of the 67 victims in the Washington D.C. plane crash have been recovered
Laila Kirkpatrick, Staff Writer
Officials in Washington D.C. have recovered the bodies of 55 victims in the deadly plane crash that happened last week. A total of 67 victims were killed in the plane crash after an Army helicopter and American Airlines passenger plane collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport last week. Washington D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly said “It’s my belief that we’re going to recover everyone,” during his briefing with the press on victim and debris recovery efforts. Drivers have continued to search the Potomac River despite the frigid temperatures for the remains of the 12 people. The waterway has remained closed to unauthorized vessels and there is limited space around the perimeter. The crash resulted in the deaths of all 64 people aboard AA Flight 5342 and the three people in the Black Hawk helicopter in Wednesday night’s collision. The crash has been deemed the deadliest air crash to happen in two decades.
The process of removing debris from the river is scheduled to start Monday and Colonel Francis Pera of the Army Corp engineers stated “ Our goal is to lift as much as we can given the fact that we are also accounting for the human remain component.” Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is leading the investigation into the cause of the crash. The commercial flight was transporting 14 people who were returning from a national figure skating development camp in Wichita Kansas.
These victims included Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova who were 1994 figure skating champions and renowned coaches, Jinna Han, Jin Han, Spencer and Christine Lane, Alexandr Kirsanov, Samuel Lilley, Ian Epstein, Wendy Jo Shaffer, Brielle and Justyna Beyer, Elizabeth Keys, Sean Kay, Angela Yang, Casey Crafton, Grace Maxwell, Olivia Ter, Kiah Duggins, Lindsey Fields, Donna Smojice, Peter, Everly and Alydia Livingston, Jesse Pitcher, Charles ‘Charlie’ McDaniel, Jonathan Boyd, Michael ‘Mikey’ Stovall, Alexander ‘Alex’ Huffman, Ryan O’Hara, Andrew Eaves, Sarah Best, Melissa Nicandri, Chris Collins, Jonathan Campos, Roger, Stephanie, and Cory Haynos, Jonathan ‘Jon’ Boyd, Rebecca Lobach, Luciano and Franco Aparicio, and Inna Volyanskaya.
