Figure skater's final Instagram post aboard doomed plane

At least 28 bodies have been recovered after a mid-air crash between a US military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane in Washington DC.

All 67 people caught in the crash over the Potomac River are believed dead, including three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk and 60 passengers and four crew on the plane.

The bodies of the three soldiers are among those recovered, but they have not been named.

Here's what we know about those on board.

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Washington air crash Potomac

Champion figure skaters

Among those on board the plane were several champion figure skaters, coaches, and family members.

One passenger, figure skater Spencer Lane, posted a photo showing the right wing of an aeroplane on his Instagram Stories before the plane took off.

The photo has the caption "ICT -> DCA", which are the airport codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

READ MORE: Washington, DC, plane crash: What we know so far

Washington air crash Potomac

Lane and his mother Christine Lane had just attended the US Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas.

The Skating Club of Boston confirmed that coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, as well as athletes Lane and Jinna Han, were on the flight.

Jin Han, the latter's mother, was on the plane as well, the club said.

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Washington air crash Potomac

Shishkova and Naumov, the coaches, were the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs.

They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers.

Figure skating Olympic medallist Nancy Kerrigan paid tribute to the victims.

Washington air crash Potomac

"I'm not sure how to process it," she said.

"We just wanted to be here and be part of our community."

Kerrigan said she had "never seen anyone love skating" as much as the athletes who died in the collision.

She 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."

Washington air crash Potomac

Pilots identified

Two pilots on the plane have also been identified.

The captain has been named as Jonathan Campos, according to a colleague who spoke to CNN.

Campos became a captain for American Airlines in 2022.

Samuel Lilley, 28, was the first officer on the flight, his father said in a Facebook post.

Washington air crash Potomac

"I was so proud when Sam became a pilot," Timothy Lilley wrote.

"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."

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has met with the families of victims of Flight 5342, Isom told CNN as he was departing Reagan National Airport's departures lobby.

Isom, accompanied by security and press staff and dressed casually in a blue quarter-zip sweater, nodded solemnly when asked by CNN if he had met with victims' families and planned to meet with investigators.

'Experienced' helicopter crew

The bodies of all three soldiers who were on the helicopter have been recovered.

Officials said the remains will be at Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

That office coordinates the dignified transfer of fallen service members.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced.

No identities of the crew have been released.

The three soldiers were doing an annual night proficiency training flight, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding they were a “fairly experienced crew”.

Their names had not been released as officials were notifying relatives, he said.

Maryland union members

Those killed also included four steamfitters, all members of a United Association union local in suburban Maryland, union leaders said in a social media post after the crash.

“Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our Brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” the post by UA General President Mark McManus and Chris Madello, the business manager of Local 602, said.

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