With the rescue mission turning into a recovery mission, the two youngest victims of the American Airlines tragic crash have been identified as an ice skating duo, belonging to the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club (UDFSC).
The total of people who were on both the American Airlines plane and the Black Hawk helicopter was 67, with none of them surviving the crash.
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More about the crash
It was on Wednesday, January 29, at around 9 pm when American Airlines flight 5342 collided mid-air with the Black Hawk military helicopter while it was on its way to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The aircraft and those in it plunged into the Potomac River after the crash.
More about the ice skating duo
Angela Yang and Sean Kay believed to be 11 and 12 years old, were young ice dance partners. They were training top juvenile figure skaters at the National Development Camp, which was held from January 20 to 26 in Kansas.
The pair were undefeated
A skating Facebook group testified to the pair’s talent in an obituary, saying that they were “undefeated in juvenile ice dance this season.”
Yang and Kay had footage of them going viral where they were expertly twirling and people applauded them. In addition, the partners won multiple first-place prizes in the 2025 Midwestern Sectional Singles and US Ice Dance, held in Texas.
How Yang started ice skating
The UDFSC made a spotlight post about Yang, highlighting that what got her into ice skating was seeing her siblings playing ice hockey, which gave her the inspiration to pursue ice skating.
As for Kay, the UDFSC mentioned that he was the first in Excel Juvenile Plus Boys at the 2023 Excel Series Final.
Yang took to Instagram before the crash
Yang made a heartwarming post on Instagram with a caption that said: “Had so so much fun at camp!!! I’m really gonna miss my friends and all the great coaches! I can’t wait for next year! And a thanks to @usfigureskating for organizing this camp!”
Their teacher was also a victim of the crash
Alexandr ‘Sasha’ Kirsanov, 46, was Yang and Kay’s teacher and was unfortunately killed by the crash as well, his widow, Natalia Gudin, told Delaware Online.
“We always use American Airlines when we go to competition. This time they go without me, and all of them are gone,” said the widow to the outlet.
She considered it a “triple loss”
“This young team – Sean Kay and Angela Yang – they were so amazing. All the judges were so proud and they had such a big future. And what, all on the same plane? For me, it’s a triple loss,” the widow continued to the outlet.
They were not the only members of the sport on the flight
Several ice skaters were on the fatal flight, not just the aforementioned three. They had attended the training camp and the figure skating championships that were conducted in parallel to the camp.
On the flight were Jinna Han, 13, and Spencer Lane, 16, as well as their mothers who were part of the ice skaters on the flight.
There were also coaches on the flight
Ice skating coaches and married couple, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were also two of the many victims of the horrific flight, their son, Maxim, confirmed to Russian outlets.
The couple were World Champions in figure skating in 1994 and had been living in the US since at least 1998.
Turns out their son wasn’t on the flight
It was suspected that Maxim, 23, was on the flight with his parents. However, it turns out he left the competition on Monday, January 27, with another American figure skater, Anton Spiridonov. He now has to live with the fact that he lost both of his parents in one go.
