Friend Shares Some of the Last Photos of Skating Sisters and Parents Inside Plane Before Family of 4 Died in D.C. Crash

Mar. 15, 2025

Everly and Alydia Livingston on American Airlines Flight 5342 before takeoff on Jan. 29.Photo:Donna Livingston/Jin Ah Longerbeam

Donna Livingston/Jin Ah Longerbeam

A friend of afamily of fourwho died in theAmerican Airlines Flight 5342crash is sharing photos she received from them not long before the plane’s deadly mid-air collision.

Jin Ah Longerbeam got the photos from Donna before a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with their plane, according toThe New York Post.

The family was traveling home to Virginia from Wichita, Kan., after Everly and Alydia had attended an ice skating camp for youngOlympic hopefuls.

Everly and Alydia Livingston on American Airlines Flight 5342 before takeoff on Jan. 29.Donna Livingston/Jin Ah Longerbeam

Longerbeam described the girls as “my little babies” in a tearful statement toABC Newson Jan. 31, noting she had known them since they were little.

Her son, Wolfe Jin, who was a friend and skating teammate of the girls, also spoke to the outlet, saying, “Everly and Alydia were two of the brightest people at our rink. The community looked up to them.”

Peter and Donna Livingston on American Airlines Flight 5342 before takeoff on Jan. 29.Donna Livingston/Jin Ah Longerbeam

Wolfe and his mother say they drove to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after news broke of the crash in the hopes that the family had survived, bringing coats for the girls in case they were cold.

“[Wolfe] kept saying, ‘They’re gonna be cold … [we have to make] sure they’re warm,' ” the mother recalled.

Ted Boyke, another friend of the family,exclusively told PEOPLEthat the girls’ father, Peter, “put his family first,” adding that his daughters were “everything to him.” Boyke recalled that Peter was the “type of guy who would come up with a wild plan” and then “go out and achieve it.”

The Livingston family.facebook

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He shared that Peter built an ice skating rink for his daughter in their backyard.

“He was known for every winter [for] putting down a tarp, boarding it off, pouring water into an ice rink that would freeze in the Virginia winters, and his daughters would practice there,” he told PEOPLE. “During COVID, they were able to practice that way when the ice rinks were closed temporarily.”

The fatal plane crash — which had no survivors — occurred when the American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in mid-air. There were a total of 67 fatalities, including 60 flight passengers, four crew members as well asthree soldierswho were on board the helicopter.

As of Friday, Jan 31, the remains of 41 victims had been recovered, and 28 of those victims have been positively identified.

Passengers on the plane included parents and children, flight attendants, and agroup of adult friendsreturning from a hunting trip.

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While the cause of the crash is unknown, aviation experts suspect that the Army helicopter did not see the plane before the deadly collision.

“I guarantee it was basically pilot error,” an active duty Army helicopter pilot, who did not want to be identified, previouslytold PEOPLE.

source: people.com