DC crash: All the faces of the American Airlines plane tragedy including Disney performer

These are the known tragic victims of the horrific American Airlines level clang adjacent Reagan National Airport successful Washington DC.

At slightest 30 bodies person been recovered from the wreckage pursuing the devastating midair collision successful the US capital, which saw the mangled craft plunge into the freezing Potomac River.

It has been confirmed nary 1 travelling successful some the level and the chopper survived - and the identities of the victims are being disclosed to the media successful stages. So far, The Mirror knows a radical of fig skaters were killed, each from the aforesaid sports nine they had been representing astatine a contention successful Kansas. These see fashionable 13-year-old TikTok skating prima Jinna Han, and sisters Everly and Alydia Livingston, aged 14 and 11 respectively.

Russian fig skating champions and renowned jock mates Evgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56, besides mislaid their lives. Tributes person besides poured successful for fashionable mum-of-two Wendy Jo Shaffer, described by her spouse an "unwavering spirit." He added: "I'm inactive waiting to aftermath up from this nightmare, but I fearfulness this is the truth."

Former Miss Kansas, Kiah Duggins, was besides among the victims. She had been visiting her parent successful Wichita, Kansas, and was returning to Washington DC, wherever she worked for Civil Rights Corps.

For unrecorded updates connected the crash, follow our blog

Inna Volyanskaya, who performed connected Disney connected Ice, died, the Mirror reported today. The 59-year-old entertainer was renowned for her roles arsenic Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel successful Disney connected Ice. Her ex-husband, Ross Lansel, spoke astir her legacy, saying: "She was 1 of the champion skaters I've ever seen, honestly. She was 1 of the champion brace girls to skate."

The plane, Flight 5342, was connected its last attack to Reagan Washington National Airport erstwhile the tragic mishap occurred. Debris from the collision rained down implicit the stream and adjacent areas.

Investigators are present piecing unneurotic the events starring up to the catastrophic incident. According to our sister title, the Mirror US, the confirmed victims truthful acold include;

• Spencer Lane
• Christine Lane
• Grace Maxwell
• Evgenia Shishkova
• Vadim Naumov
• Jinna Han
• Jin Han

• Asra Hussain
• Samuel Lilley
• Jonathan Campos
• Danasia Elder
• Ian Epstein
• Ryan O'Hara
• Mark Stovall

• Jesse Pitcher
• Inna Volyanskaya
• Wendy Shaffer
• Alexandr Kirsanov
• Sean Kay
• Angela Yang

• Everly Livingston
• Alydia Livingston
• Natalya Gudin
• Alexandr Kirsanov
• Kiah Duggins

Rescue efforts continued into Thursday evening with much victims apt to beryllium identified. However, speaking connected Thursday, John Donnelly, the occurrence main successful the nation’s capital, said: "We are present astatine the constituent wherever we are switching from a rescue cognition to a betterment operation.

Without evidence, Donald Trump blamed aerial postulation controllers, the chopper pilots and Democratic policies astatine national agencies. He claimed that the FAA was “actively recruiting workers who endure terrible intelligence disabilities, psychiatric problems and different intelligence and carnal conditions nether a diverseness and inclusion hiring initiative."

The US President, 78, besides made an awkward gag astir the tract of the Washington DC level crash. Speaking astatine the property league astatine the White House, lone 3 miles away, helium said: "I person a program to sojourn – not the site. Because what – you archer me. What's the site? Water. We're going to spell swimming?"

Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was connected a grooming exercise. A analyzable probe is ongoing into the origin of the disaster.

But it happened successful immoderate of the astir tightly controlled and monitored airspace successful the world, astir 3 miles southbound of the White House and the Capitol. Federal investigators told reporters they would not speculate connected the origin and stressed probes similar these tin instrumentality months.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators recovered the cockpit dependable recorder and the formation information recorder from the Bombardier CRJ700 airplane, bureau spokesperson Peter Knudson said. They were astatine the agency's labs for evaluation.

The level was recovered upside-down successful 3 sections successful waist-deep water, and archetypal responders were searching miles of the Potomac, Mr Donnelly said. The chopper wreckage was besides found. Images from the stream showed boats astir the partially submerged helping and the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said the level was making a mean attack erstwhile "the subject craft came into the path" of the jet. One aerial postulation controller was liable for coordinating chopper postulation and arriving and departing planes erstwhile the collision happened, according to a study by the Federal Aviation Administration.

Those duties are often divided betwixt 2 people, but the airdrome typically combines the roles astatine 9.30pm, erstwhile postulation begins to dilatory down. On Wednesday, the operation supervisor directed that they beryllium combined earlier.

The study said: "The presumption configuration was not mean for the clip of time and measurement of traffic." A idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter, however, said the operation staffing that nighttime was astatine a mean level.

The positions are regularly combined erstwhile controllers request to measurement distant from the console for breaks, during displacement changes oregon erstwhile aerial postulation is slow, the idiosyncratic said, speaking connected the information of anonymity to sermon interior procedures. The Federal Aviation Administration has agelong struggled with a shortage of aerial postulation controllers, it is reported.

A apical Army aviation authoritative said the unit of the helicopter, a Black Hawk, was "very experienced" and acquainted with the congested flying that occurs regular astir the city.

"Both pilots had flown this circumstantial way before, astatine night. This wasn’t thing caller to either 1 of them,” said Jonathan Koziol, main of unit for Army aviation.

The helicopter's maximum allowed altitude astatine the clip was 200 feet (about 60 meters), Mr Koziol said. It was not instantly wide whether it exceeded that limit, but Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said altitude seemed to beryllium a origin successful the collision. Mr Koziol said investigators request to analyse the formation information earlier making conclusions astir altitude.

Wednesday's clang was the deadliest successful the US since November 12, 2001, erstwhile an American Airlines formation slammed into a residential country of Belle Harbor, New York, conscionable aft takeoff from Kennedy Airport, sidesplitting each 260 radical aboard.

The past large fatal clang involving a US commercialized hose occurred successful 2009 adjacent Buffalo, New York. Everyone aboard the Bombardier DHC-8 propeller level was killed, on with 1 idiosyncratic connected the ground, bringing the full decease toll to 50.