Family of four people lost on the crash plane dedicated to a life to skate artists

A Virginia family of four people who devoted their lives to the figure skating and was among the victims who died in a devastating plane accident on Wednesday near the national airport in Reagan.

The business manager Donna Livingston and her husband Peter Livingston, who worked in real estate, were both on board the American Airlines 5342 flight alongside their daughters Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11. At their home in Ashburn, Virginia, when their plane collided in the air with an army helicopter in an accident that killed 67 people.

The young sisters spent a major part of their life on the ice, with Everly and the skating careers of Alydia starting before being 5 years old, according to the close friend of Donna, Dalal Badri, who spoke to USA TODAY of the family.

Badri said that she had seen the girls grow up at the Ashburn Ice house in Virginia, where her son Adam was tried as a Alydia skating partner since she was 3 years old. The sisters followed the traces of their father Peter, who has already patinated the Fairfax Ice Arena, about 25 miles south-east of the Ashburn ice rink.

“Everly was such a shy girl, but so concentrated and she just opened and turned on when she got on the ice,” said Badri. “Alydia laughed and joked and smiled. She would always make a joke, even if she had a right face and was the kind of person who always wanted to make others laugh.”

“ You cannot find many dedicated skating families ”

Peter and Donna have always put their daughters in front of them, said Badri. Almost constant trips and the search for private skating rinks to register for online home schooling, parents were the biggest champions of their daughters.

“He was such a dedicated father. No matter what. He would always take time for them so that they could skate,” Badri told USA Today. “You cannot find many dedicated skating families. They are very rare. But Donna was ready for anything. And if we could not understand how we are going to do it, it was like” don “to worry.

Parents would take Everly to see a trainer in Philadelphia, another in Virginia, then a choreographer in Delaware, according to Badri.

The girls competed across the country, both winning several regional championships.

They prospered both in the face and a roller skate, excellent in various disciplines of solo dance with freestyling. Parents have proudly shared their success on Instagram page @ice_skating_sisters, which has more than 20,000 subscribers.

Badri remembered Donna around 48 hours before the flight, revealing that Aalydia had finished a high development camp and would progress in a training camp before the next stage of the competition.

“They were traveling everywhere, just for children. I can’t tell you how dedicated they were to a family, just for children,” she said. “The skating community has lost by losing the living rooms.”

Everly coach was also on board the flight

Everly coach Inna Volyanskaya, 59, was also one of the victims of the accident at Flight 5342, according to the representative of Virginia, Suhas Subramanyam.

A former competitor of Belarus and Russia, Volyanskaya patinated with Valery Spiridonov, whose son Anton now represents the United States in ice dance. She worked as an athlete for the Washington is Skating Club and as a Disney On Ice interpreter.

In 2002, she started her coach career, teaching a wide range of skaters, from novices to elite competitors, according to an online biography.

Volyanskaya shared an Instagram post for Congratulations Wednesday for Everly and the young skater Franco APARICIO for their second consecutive year to participate in the national American figure skating camp. The three -day camp took place in Wichita, Kansas, following the national championships which until Sunday.

Volyanskaya wrote alongside a photo of herself with Aparicio and Everly: “So proud of all their hard work and their training they have done to get here.”

Contribution: N’dea Yancey-Bragg, USA Today