It has been confirmed that a Korean-American youth figure skater was on board the passenger plane involved in the collision and crash near Washington D.C. in the United States on the 29th (local time). About 20 figure skaters, along with parents and coaches, were on the accident flight, and all 64 passengers (including crew members) are reported deceased.

On the 30th, recovery operations are occurring for the collision accident between a passenger plane and a helicopter in the Potomac River, Washington, D.C. /Courtesy of Reuters

On the 30th, local media reported that Jinna Han, one of the passengers on the flight, is a Korean-American female figure skater. According to CBS News, Doug Zeghibe, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Boston Skating Club, stated that Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, a teenage male skater who was adopted from Korea, were on the flight along with their mothers. Additionally, it was identified that the couple, Evgenia Shushkova and Vadim Naumov (Russia), who were the coaches and former champions of the 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, were also on the same flight.

The accident flight was carrying about 20 figure skaters, along with parents and coaches, which constitutes roughly one-third of the total passengers (64, including crew members). They were returning home after participating in a national training camp for promising athletes that took place from the 20th to the 26th in Wichita, Kansas (the flight’s point of departure), in connection with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

The accident occurred at approximately 8:53 p.m. on the 29th when a passenger plane operated by PSA Airlines, a subsidiary of American Airlines, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk (Sikorsky H-60) helicopter that was conducting flight training while approaching Ronald Reagan Airport for landing. Following the collision, both the plane and the helicopter crashed into the nearby Potomac River.

Amid ongoing recovery efforts, it is presumed that all 67 individuals, including 64 passengers and crew members of the aircraft and 3 soldiers on the helicopter, have been killed. On the same day, U.S. President Donald Trump noted in a press conference, "Sadly, there are no survivors." John Donnelly, the fire chief in Washington D.C., stated at a press conference, "Despite all efforts, we are now at the point of transitioning from a rescue operation to a recovery operation (for bodies, etc.)," adding, "At this point, we do not believe there are any survivors from this incident." Chief Donald reported that 27 bodies were recovered from the passenger plane and one from the helicopter.

According to the Associated Press, this incident is one of the deadliest aviation accidents since November 12, 2001, when an American Airlines passenger flight that had departed from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport crashed into a residential area shortly after takeoff, killing all 260 on board.