Teen figure skaters, group of hunters and students among victims of US air crash

The victims of a crash between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter included teen figure skaters returning from a national meet up with their mothers and coaches, a university student returning from her grandfather’s funeral and a group of hunters headed back from a guided trip in Kansas.

They were among 60 travellers and four crew members on board the commercial flight late on Wednesday when it collided with the Black Hawk helicopter, which was carrying three soldiers, over Washington.

Officials say there were no survivors.

As the search for remains continued on Thursday, communities grieved and faith leaders held a vigil in the city council chambers.

“The only way we will get through this is together,” said the Reverend Pamela Hughes Mason of Wichita’s St Paul AME Church.

American Airlines set up a hotline as well as centres in Washington and Wichita for people searching for information about family members who may have been aboard the flight.

Here’s what we know about some of the people killed in Wednesday night’s crash.

Skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among those killed, according to Doug Zeghibe, chief executive of the Skating Club of Boston.

Their mothers, Jin Han and Christine Lane, as well as their coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, also died.

Jinna and Spencer, who was about 16, were returning from the US Figure Skating Championships.

“We watched Jinna just grow up here from just a tiny little tyke into this amazingly mature 13-year-old,” he said. “A great performer, a great competitor, and off the ice, a great kid.”

Spencer, who was from Barrington, Rhode Island, took part in his first professional show in December with Elin Schran’s company, Joy Skate Productions.

“He started to discover this connection with the audience and that joy that he was giving to other people through his gift,” Mr Schran said.

In a statement, the Lane family recalled Christine Lane for both her singular talents and her dedication to parenting.

“Christine exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting, and more. She brought even greater passion to her role as a mother to Spencer and his brother Milo,” the family said.

Their coaches, Evgenia and Vadim, won the pairs title at the 1994 world championships in Chiba, Japan. The Russia-born pair also competed twice in the Olympics.

Skating organisations in Philadelphia and the Washington area also said some of their young athletes had been aboard the plane.

Several athletes on the flight had attended a development camp held after the US Figure Skating Championships ended on Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.

Wichita skating centre manager Sean O’Reilly said the championships brought a “groundswell of positivity,” drawing enthusiastic parents and young athletes from across the US. He was “gutted” to learn some of those skaters had been killed.

In Virginia’s Loudoun County, a coach at a skating club was also identified as among the passengers, Virginia Representative Suhas Subramanyam confirmed.

The club, Ashburn Ice House, said that its “figure skating community has been directly affected” but did not give further details.

Cedarville University in Ohio said one of the passengers on the plane was Grace Maxwell, who was studying mechanical engineering.

Grace’s father, Dean Maxwell, said she was returning to campus from her home in Wichita, Kansas, after attending her grandfather’s funeral, The Wichita Eagle reported.

Grace Maxwell had been working on project to create a hand-stabilising device to help a boy in the area feed himself instead of rely on others, the university said in a statement.

“Grace was a quiet person with a keen interest in helping others through engineering,” said Tim Norman, who served as her secondary advisor.

Three other students from schools in Fairfax County, Virginia, and six parents from the district were also on board the plane, superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter to families.

She did not identify them, but said the students were from different schools and that two of the parents were current or former district staffers.

Philippine Police Colonel Pergentino Malabed Jnr, who headed the supply management division of the national police, was among the dead.

He had travelled to the US to inspect equipment the Philippines was planning to purchase for its 232,000-member force, according to the Philippine police.

“His untimely passing is a profound loss to the Philippine National Police, where he served with honour, with integrity and dedication throughout his career,” police spokesperson Colonel Randulf Tuano said in a statement.

The Chinese Embassy in the US said two Chinese nationals were also among the victims but did not offer further details.

The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs offered its condolences for the crash victims and requested the US to “promptly report any progress with the search and rescue, and find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible”.

Seven people returning from a guided hunting trip in Kansas were killed, according to a Facebook post by Fowl Plains, the guide service.

The Fowl Plains team said they had grown close to the hunters on board the flight over the years and considered them to be family members.

The post does not identify the hunters by name, but it says they had spent the past week on a guided hunt, “laughing, talking about our families and sharing memories”.

“Heartbroken is an understatement,” the company said.

Those killed also included four steamfitters, all members of a United Association union local in suburban Maryland, union leaders said in a social media post on Thursday.

“Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” said the post by UA General President Mark McManus and Chris Madello, the business manager of Local 602.

The victims also include three soldiers who were aboard the helicopter.

Officials said their remains will be at Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

That office coordinates the dignified transfer of fallen service members.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced and no identities of the crew have been released.

But the wife of one of the helicopter pilots said on Facebook that her husband, Andrew Eaves of Noxubee County Mississippi, was killed.

In a phone call, Carrie Eaves confirmed the post was hers.

“We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve,” her post read.

The three soldiers were doing an annual night proficiency training flight, US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding they were a “fairly experienced crew”.

Officials were notifying relatives, he said.