By Alaa Elassar, Zenebou Sylla, Samantha Waldenberg, Taylor Galgano, David Williams and Amanda Jackson

(CNN) — All 67 people on board the American Airlines regional jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided midair Wednesday night are presumed dead – a grim tragedy that has left a heartbreaking trail of mourning families in its wake.

The somber day will be remembered as the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001.

As details of the disturbing catastrophe emerge and additional bodies are identified, the full weight and impact of the lives lost grows heavier. Here are some of the victims of the tragedy identified so far.

A flight attendant living ‘one of her dreams’

Flight attendant Danasia Elder, a mother of two, was one of the people killed in Wednesday’s midair collision, the Association of Flight Attendants-Communications Workers of America announced in a Facebook post.

She was based out of Charlotte, North Carolina, and had been flying since last year, the union said. Her brother-in-law, Brandon Payne, told CNN affiliate WSOC that she was “a great wife, a great parent, a great friend.”

“She was very bright, very smart. She was an entrepreneur. This flight attendant thing was kind of like one of her dreams she wanted to do,” Payne said. “She would want y’all do the same thing she did. Chase your dreams, no matter what. Don’t let nothing scare you.”

Three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk

The US Army has released the names of two of the three soldiers onboard the Black Hawk military helicopter that collided with a passenger plane on Wednesday night.

Ryan O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, from Great Mills, Maryland, died in the crash. Eaves was the instructor pilot on board and had about 1,000 flight hours, according to Army official Jonathan Koziol.

The third soldier’s name is not being released at the request of their family, but it is known that they were co-piloting the Black Hawk and had about 500 flight hours, according to the US Army.

O’Hara is being remembered by a fellow service member as “one of the finest, most disciplined, committed trainers” he has ever worked with.

Josh Muehlendorf, Chief Warrant Officer 5 with the US Army, worked with O’Hara when he was a senior instructor pilot of the battalion O’Hara was in.

“I’ve flown dozens of flights with Ryan O’Hara, trying to tap into his expertise on Hoist operation,” Muehlendorf said.

O’Hara graduated from Parkview High School in Gwinnett County, Georgia, in 2014, CNN affiliate WSB reported.

“Ryan is fondly remembered as a guy who would fix things around the ROTC gym as well as a vital member of the Rifle Team. Ryan leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son,” the school’s Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps wrote in a statement obtained by WSB.

O’Hara was a crew chief by trade, Muehlendorf told CNN, explaining that his “military occupational specialty was a 15T and he was originally trained to be a maintainer of Black Hawk helicopters.”

O’Hara’s responsibilities expanded and he began teaching other crew chiefs how to properly execute crew duties in the back of a Black Hawk, Muehlendorf said.

Muehlendorf recalled O’Hara as a man with a deep love for his family.

“I remember being longwinded in a debrief and he had to tell me that he had a date night planned. The debrief promptly ended,” Muehlendorf said.

“A huge loss to Army Aviation and the world around him. May he rest in peace, and may our Father be a comfort to his dear family,” he said.

Lindsey Fields

Kansas biology teacher Lindsey Fields, the president-elect of the National Association of Biology Teachers, was aboard American Airlines Flight 5432 and killed in Wednesday’s midair collision above Washington, DC.

The association reported her death in a statement and said she was traveling to Washington to “represent the NABT community and advocate for excellence in life science education.”

“This is a tremendous loss. Please keep Lindsey, the other victims, and their families in your hearts. We also ask that you respect the privacy of her loved ones at this time,” the statement said.

Fields and was listed as the Biology Department Chair in her faculty biography and taught Biology, Anatomy and Physiology at Butler Community College in Kansas.

“Outside of the classroom I enjoy cooking, reading, hiking (any type of activity outdoors really) and spending time with my family and Great Danes. I love to travel to the mountains and spend time fishing,” she wrote in her school bio.

First Officer Sam Lilley and Capt. Jonathan Campos

Sam Lilley, a young fiancé awaiting his fall wedding, was piloting the American Airlines flight that was minutes away from a safe landing when a collision with an Army helicopter plunged both aircrafts and everyone on board into Virginia’s Potomac River.

“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” Lilley’s father, Timothy Lilley, said in a Facebook post Thursday. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep. I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking.”

Lilley, 28, was the first officer on the flight, his father said in the post, and was “doing great in his career and his personal life.”

“It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much,” Timothy Lilley said. “This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” he told FOX 5 Atlanta.

The grieving father, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Army for 20 years, said he believes the commercial jet involved in the incident was following proper procedures.

“From what I can see, those guys turned right into the jet. I think the PSA jet was doing everything right,” Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta. “The Army pilot made a grave error. It hurts me because those are my brothers, and now my son is dead.”

Jonathan Campos, the captain of the American Airlines flight, was also killed, according to a fellow pilot who knew Campos personally. The colleague said that Campos became a captain for the airline in 2022.

“He was an amazing person,” Campos’ family member, Edward Campos, told CNN. “He loved flying. He loved his family.”

Ian Epstein

Ian Epstein, 53, was a flight attendant on the American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision, his sister, Robbie Bloom, confirmed to CNN.

“My brother was a wonderful, wonderful man. He loved life. He loved traveling. He loved his job. He loved his family. And he will be sorely missed,” Bloom said.

Epstein, who had been a flight attendant for several years, leaves behind two children and two stepchildren, according to Bloom.

“He made friends everywhere he went. He used to talk about the people he met on the plane as if they were all new friends,” Bloom said.

Garrick McFadden, a friend and former colleague of Epstein, told CNN’s Laura Coates that Epstein was “a ball of vibrant, colorful energy.”

McFadden also noted how tight-knit the flight attendant community is, and how the loss of Epstein hits home.

“We love our job. We get up every day, a lot of us do it because we just love people, regardless of pay,” McFadden said. “But Ian definitely was one of the greatest examples of (that).”

“I miss him,” McFadden said.

Asra Hussain Raza

Asra Hussain Raza, 26, was one of several victims killed, her father-in-law, Dr. Hashim Raza, told CNN.

A daughter of Indian immigrants, Hussain Raza graduated with honors in 2020 from Indiana University and married her college sweetheart in August 2023, Raza said.

Raza was a Washington, DC-based consultant who traveled to Wichita twice a month to work on a turnaround project for a hospital there, her father-in-law said. She would often call him at the end of his late emergency room shifts to make sure he stayed awake on the drive home, he told CNN.

“She went out of her way for everybody,” Raza said.

Friends on an annual hunting trip

Michael “Mikey” Stovall and Jesse Pitcher, along with other friends, were returning home from their annual hunting trip to Kansas, according to family members.

Stovall’s mother, Christina Stovall, told CNN affiliate WINK that he was an amazing father and son.

“Mikey did not have one enemy,” she said. “He loved everybody. He’s the happiest person. He saw good in everybody, almost to a fault.”

Seven friends were on the hunting trip, she said.

Pitcher and Stovall worked together, Pitcher’s father Jameson Pitcher told The New York Times. Pitcher had been looking forward to the trip, his dad said, adding his son had been married for just over a year and was in the process of building a home.

Stovall worked as a steamfitter, his cousin, Shawna Slarb, told the Times – a tradesperson who installs and maintains piping systems.

Steamfitters UA Local 602 shared a statement on Facebook confirming four members of the union were among the victims of the plane crash. No names were released. It’s unclear if they were all on the hunting trip.

A civil rights attorney and two young legal associates

A Harvard-trained civil rights attorney, Kiah Duggins, and two bright young law associates, Sarah Lee Best and Elizabeth Anne Keys, are also among the victims.

Duggins, an attorney at the Civil Rights Corps in Washington, was returning home from visiting her family in Wichita when she died in the collision, according to CNN affiliate KWCH.

“We are coming to terms with the grief associated with the loss of our beautiful and accomplished firstborn. Please respect our family’s privacy at this time,” her family said in a statement reported by KWCH.

Duggins got her juris doctor from Harvard Law School in 2021 – where she served as president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau – and was set to become a professor at Howard University School of Law this fall, the university confirmed in a statement.

“As a civil rights lawyer, she dedicated her career to fighting against unconstitutional policing and unjust money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C.,” the university said in a statement.

Duggins served as a White House intern during the Obama administration and spent nearly a year in Taiwan on a Fulbright grant teaching English, according to her LinkedIn and information provided by Wichita State University, where she got her bachelor’s degree in economics.

Best and Keys, associates of the law firm Wilkinson Stekloff, were also on the plane Wednesday, the firm confirmed in a statement.

“Liz and Sarah were cherished members of our firm—wonderful attorneys, colleagues, and friends,” the firm said in a statement.

Keys, a 33-year-old Cincinnati native was traveling aboard the flight from Wichita, Kansas, her family confirmed to CNN affiliate WXIX. The crash occurred on her birthday, the station reported.

“Words cannot express how deeply Elizabeth, my Bitsy, will be missed. We are filled with unbearable sorrow and despair at our loss,” her family wrote in a statement.

A 2010 valedictorian of Madeira High School in Cincinnati, Ohio, Keys went on to graduate from Tufts University, where she was a standout member of the varsity sailing team. She earned her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center, according to her social media.

She was remembered as an exceptional lawyer who brought “fearlessness, humor, and sharp wit to work every day, no matter the setting or circumstances,” her family said.

Best, who joined the firm last fall, was described as someone who “quickly energized us all with her boundless curiosity, kindness, and intelligence.”

Six US Figure Skating athletes, coaches and family members

A married pair of skating champions, two young skaters and two of their parents were among those killed in the plane crash, the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs, lost their lives in the crash. They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers. They are survived by their son, Maxim Naumov, who just won fourth place at the US men’s figure skating championships last weekend.

Skater Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Han, were also killed, along with skater Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine Lane, the Skating Club of Boston said.

Douglas Lane told CNN affiliate WCVB when he saw the news that a passenger plane had crashed near Reagan National Airport – where his wife and son were due to land – “my heart just started exploding out of my chest.”

Lane described his late son Spencer as a “force of nature” who “had his eye on the Olympics.”

His wife, Christine “just connected with everyone,” Lane told WCVB. “People were really drawn to her.

The tragedy will have a profound impact on the World Figure Skating Championships in March, which will be held in Boston this year.

Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight included athletes and others returning from a development camp that was held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships, which had been held over several days in Wichita, according to the organization that oversees figure skating in the US.

They were in Kansas participating in events related to the US Figure Skating Championships, the national governing body of the sport confirmed.

US Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, who went to the Skating Club of Boston on Thursday to support the community she loves, said she had “never seen anyone love skating” as much as the athletes who died in the collision.

“I’m not sure how to process it,” she said, crying.

Kerrigan said she had been watching coverage of the tragedy all night, but then “when you find out you know some of the people on the plane, it’s even a bigger blow.”

While Kerrigan said she didn’t know the coaches personally, she did remember seeing them over the years. She remembered that they always had a “smile on their face.”

“To walk in here and not see that, I think would be very strange for everybody that comes here, especially those that are here day in and day out,” she said. “It’s going to be hard.”

Three youth skaters and a coach

Youth skaters Sean Kay and Angela Yang, and their coach Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov, all from Delaware, died in the crash, state Sen. Chris Coons said.

“Sasha Kirsanov, Sean Kay, and Angela Yang went to Wichita to pursue their passion for figure skating,” Coons posted on X Thursday. “It is a tragedy that none of them returned home to our state.”

Kirsanov’s wife, Natalia Gudin, told Delaware Online/The News Journal that Kay and Young were an amazing team and had a big future ahead.

“For me, it’s a triple loss,” Gudin said. CNN has reached out to her for comment but has not heard back.

Kirsanov was a former skating coach for the University of Delaware’s figure skating club, according to the university’s president, Dennis Assanis.

“Sasha was more than just a coach – he was a mentor, a friend, and a light in the skating world,” Melissa Maldonado, the school’s figure skating club president, said. “His passion for this sport was contagious, and his kindness, wisdom, and unwavering belief in his skaters helped so many of us grow both on and off the ice.”

Olivia Ter, 12, from Maryland, was also killed in the collision and is being remembered as an exceptional youth figure skater who inspired her peers.

The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, Department of Parks and Recreation in Prince George’s County released a statement on Thursday night identifying Olivia as a victim of the DC plane crash.

“The impact of Olivia’s life will continue to resonate in our youth sports community, and she will be sorely missed,” said Bill Tyler, the commission’s director.

“Olivia not only excelled in figure skating programs, but inspired others through her talent, determination and sportsmanship,” Tyler said. “Her passion for the sport and positive influence on her peers and coaches will not be forgotten.”

CNN’s Juan Carlos Lopez, Jillian Sykes, Lauren Mascarenhas, Dalia Faheid, Lex Harvey, Kia Fatahi, Teele Rebane and Max Rego contributed to this report.

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