An Indiana University of Pennsylvania grad and her family were among the dozens aboard an American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C., earlier this week, university officials confirmed Friday.
Donna Smojice Livingston, her husband, Peter, and their two daughters were killed in the midair collision Wednesday. Ms. Livingston, of Virginia, previously lived in Johnstown, according to WTAJ. She graduated from Westmont Hilltop high school and, later, IUP.
“We share in the nation’s grief and heartbreak over this terrible tragedy,” said Jennifer Dunsmore, IUP’s assistant vice president for university advancement. “It touches us very personally, as this loss includes members of the IUP family.”
“As an IUP community, we join the Livingstons’ family and friends in mourning their passing and all the lives lost in this accident,” she said.
In Virginia, a memorial grew outside of the Ashburn Ice House. WTAJ reported that several of the club’s members, including Ms. Livingston’s daughters, were aboard the flight from Wichita to Washington.
“It is with heavy hearts that we have learned that our figure skating community has been directly affected,” the rink’s officials wrote online.
Ms. Livingston, her husband, and daughters Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11, were among several members of the U.S. Figure Skating community who were on the flight.
“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342,” the organization said Thursday. “These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.”
Cassandra Atkins told WTAJ that while she never met the Livingston family in person, she designed several outfits for Everly and Alydia, and she kept up with their mother on a regular basis.
“Donna was just like the most perfect mom,” she told the Altoona-based TV station. “She really was. Like I said before, those girls were everything to her, the center of her whole universe.”
Sara Sebring, a 16-year-old figure skater who trains at the ice rink at Robert Morris University’s Island Sports Center, said she knew six of the skaters who died in the crash.
“It’s been really difficult,” she told Post-Gazette news partner KDKA-TV. “The people that were on that flight didn’t deserve any of it. They were so kind, and they were very loved by me and by others.”
Rachel Lane-McCarthy told KDKA she was on her way to teach lessons at the rink Thursday morning when she heard the news. She said she personally knew one of the coaches who died.
"I gave my skaters a lot of hugs today," she said. "Let them cry. I cried with them. I don't know how anyone is gonna deal with this. I mean, we're just gonna be strong for each other."
First Published: January 31, 2025, 10:24 p.m.
Updated: February 3, 2025, 1:47 p.m.
