Shortly before 9pm on Wednesday (January 29), a PSA Airlines aircraft, which is owned by American Airlines, collided mid-air with a Black Hawk US Army helicopter.
Flight 5342 was approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington D.C in preparation to land when disaster struck.
The wreckages of both the plane – which 60 passengers had boarded along with four crew members – and the chopper plummeted into the Potomac River.
A ‘recovery’ mission is still ongoing, with the 64 people onboard the commercial aircraft and three on the helicopter all believed to be dead.
Among the victims are a man’s wife and his 12-year-old daughter, who survived cancer earlier on in life.
Andy Beyer has spoken with ABC News after losing daughter Brielle and his wife Justyna, 42, as they were heading back to the capital after being part of the US Figure Skating National Development Camp.
Discussing his daughter, who faced cancer as a baby, Beyer said: “She was just such a fighter in everything she did. She just lived life to the fullest with everything.
“She was so proud of herself in figure skating for the progress she had made… Making that team was one of her life goals. And she achieved it. And she was just so, so proud of herself.”
Beyer was heading to the airport with the couple’s 6-year-old son to pick up his wife and daughter when he realized something wasn’t right.
“When it was time for the plane to land, they hadn’t landed [and] we couldn’t get text messages through,” he explained.
Seeing all the emergency services added further to the worry and it was an air traffic controller friend who confirmed the crash.
Beyer added to ABC News: “I didn’t have a lot of hope unfortunately, we had a good cry about it right then and there and then we had to go in with the family waiting room and everything before we, hours later, got any official word of what had fully happened.”
A GoFundMe has been set up by a ‘friend of the Beyer family’ to help support them during this difficult time.
“In a tragic turn of events, we are heartbroken to share the devastating loss of 12-year-old Brielle and her beloved mother, Justyna, who both tragically died in the recent Washington, DC, plane crash,” the GoFundMe states.
“Their absence leaves an irreplaceable void in the hearts of family and friends, and we are reaching out to our community for support during this incredibly difficult time.”
