JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A woman originally from Johnstown was identified as one of the victims in the crash of American Airlines Flight 5342. That plane crashed mid-air with a military helicopter just moments before landing at Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.
Donna Smojice Livingston grew up in Johnstown and graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1999. She, her husband, Peter, and her two daughters, who were both heavily involved in figure skating, were all on board Flight 5342, heading home from Kansas after attending the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Everly Livingston, 14, and Alydia, 11 were known online as the “Ice Skating Sisters.”
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With more than 20,000 followers on Instagram, and more on Facebook and YouYube, they shared videos, pictures, and updates of their young ice skating careers.
Alydia was the youngest skater on that plane, described as a “rising ice dancer” in a tribute by The Skating Lesson Facebook page.
IUP released a statement on the tragic death of Donna Smojice Livingston on Friday.
“We share in the nation’s grief and heartbreak over this terrible tragedy,” said IUP Assistant Vice President for University Advancement Jennifer Dunsmore. “It touches us very personally, as this loss includes members of the IUP family, Donna Smojice Livingston, her husband, and their two daughters. As an IUP community, we join the Livingstons’ family and friends in mourning their passing and all the lives lost in this accident.”
While at IUP, Smojice Livingston was a member of the Alpha Gamma Delta International Fraternity.
The organization posted a statement on Facebook Friday.
“Alpha Gamma Delta is deeply saddened to learn Donna Smojice Livingston, Alpha Sigma-Indiana University of Pennsylvania entered Chapter Grand,” the organization said. “She was among those who tragically lost their lives in the Wichita flight crash in Washington, D.C. Donna was traveling with her husband and their two daughters, Alydia and Everly Livingston who represented the Washington Figure Skating Club in D.C. and had attended the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita according to The Kansas City Star. As an alumna Donna served Alpha Gamma Delta as the permanent secretary of Old Dominion Alumnae Club from 2009 to 2012.”
Friends and family are also grieving the tragic loss of the Lvingston family with many tributes being posted online.
Scott Molony, said he went to college with Donna Smojice Livingston. He wrote on Facebook, “The loss of Donna, her husband, and their two daughters is terribly tragic. This family was a shining light of what is right in this world, a world where there is so much wrong.”
Lauren Hackman Thompson — another friend who told me her daughter and Everly were close when they were little — wrote, “I witnessed the first skating rink Peter built in the backyard and to think this was the tragic end to such a beautiful and loving family. I’ll never understand.”
Another friend — Cassandra Atkins — wrote, “Skate in the white fluffy clouds my beautiful skating sisters, your [sic] now with the angels. RIP Livingston family, there will always be a special place in my heart for you all.”
The Ashburn Ice House in Virginia — where the Livingstons skated — has a growing memorial.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the people affected by the terrible plane accident [Wednesday] night,” the Ice House posted on its website. “It is with heavy hearts that we have learned that our figure skating community has been directly affected. As we learn more, we will follow up with additional information.
The figure skating community is a close-knit, worldwide family and our hearts go out to all affected by this terrible tragedy.”
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