The young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night were just beginning their journeys to stardom.

Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. The deaths came after the passenger jet was preparing to land shortly before 9 p.m. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after flying from Wichita,

Ryan O'Hara, 29, was the crew chief of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the passenger plane, according to CBS News. He leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son, his local Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program said in a social media post confirming his death.