A 12-year-old girl and her mother from Aldie in Loudoun County were victims of the crash of American Eagle Flight 5342. That’s according to multiple reports including from NBC News.
Figure skater Brielle Beyer was traveling back from Wichita, Kansas with her mother, Justyna Magdalena Beyer, when the plane collided with a Army helicopter just before landing at Reagan National. Both aircraft tumbled into the Potomac River.
Brielle skated with the Skating Club of Northern Virginia and had won multiple medals and awards while skating in competitions.
Brielle “was a spunky skater who was said to live on the ice,” the The Skating Lesson Instagram site posted to their page. “Brielle landed a triple salchow to place third in the juvenile ladies division at Eastern Sectionals … She was accompanied on the flight by her mother, Justyna, and is survived by her father, Andy, and brother, Kallen.”
There were many skaters, coaches, and family members from Northern Virginia on Flight 5342. They were returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships and accompanying training events this week in Wichita.
The Livingston family from Ashburn was also lost in the crash, as was Inna Volyanskaya, a coach at the Ashburn Ice House and former “Disney on Ice” skater.
(Image at top: Brielle Magdalena Beyer Instagram)