The plane crash near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night struck the sports world when it was revealed that members of the figure skating community were among those on the American Airlines flight.
Six members of the Skating Club of Boston were aboard Flight 5342, and U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement that “several members of our skating community” were on the plane.
The commercial jet collided with an Army helicopter, resulting in the presumed deaths of all 67 people on board the two aircraft combined.
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Rescuers set out after a passenger jet collided with an Army helicopter at Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday. (AP) (Associated Press)
After hearing that the flight carried athletes, potentially those with Olympic dreams, gold medal shot putter Ryan Crouser said the news hit closer to home.
“It’s really difficult to kind of process. As an athlete you spend a lot of time traveling and getting on planes,” Crouser said in a recent interview with Fox News Digital. “It’s a really difficult time, I think, right now just as a country, and as an athlete as well, just thinking about, ‘Shoot, that could have been me.’”
Ryan Crouser of Team USA competes during the men’s shot put final on day 8 of the Olympic Games Paris at Stade de France on Aug. 3, 2024. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
For the three-time gold medalist, it was another reminder to not take what he has for granted.
“My heart goes out to the families, and if nothing else, just to be thankful for every day. You have so many great opportunities ahead of you, but you don’t know when that can be taken away, and in a crazy accident like that, definitely a tough time, and my heart goes out to the families.”
First responders switched to recovery efforts on the Potomac River after it was believed that there were no survivors. There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the American Airlines flight and three soldiers aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.
FBI agents stand near debris on Thursday after American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Reagan Washington National Airport and crashed into the Potomac River the previous night. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
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Two former Olympians, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also believed to be among the victims of the crash, the Kremlin confirmed.
Fox News’ Paulina Dedaj and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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