A teenage figure skater who was aboard the doomed American Airlines flight that came crashing down in flames Wednesday night shared her hopes to represent Team USA in a video before her tragic death.
Everly Livingston, 14, died alongside her 11-year-old sister Alydia, and their parents, Peter and Donna Livingston, in the mid-air collision between Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC.
Everly and Alydia, who hailed from Ashburn, Va., were known in the figure skating community as the “Ice Skating Sisters,” and were returning home from the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan. with their fellow skaters at the National Development Camp.
Last year, the then-13-year-old spoke to FOX5 DC about her accomplishments and her hopes for the future on the skating rink.
“My goals are to actually be a part of Team USA and travel around the world,” she says in the heartbreaking video.
The teen was said to be “shy and reserved” when compared to Alydia, however, she “came alive on the ice — becoming a sectional champion at the intermediate and juvenile levels,” according to a tribute shared on Facebook.
Both sisters played an integral part in the Washington Figure Skating Club and often shared their routines on the ice in clips on social media.
In their tragic final Instagram post, shared just five days before their untimely deaths, the sisters smiled in front of an ice rink at the championships in Wichita.
“If you look closely at Alydia’s badge… We were born ready for this,” they captioned the snap. “But is @usfigureskating ready for this much Livingston at Nationals?”
In a separate Instagram post shared just hours before the tragedy, Everly’s coach Inna Volyanskaya praised the teen and her skating partner Franco Aparicio for their dedication to the sport.
“Congratulations on Everly and Franco for making it to the national development camp for their second year,” Volyanskaya wrote.
“So proud of all their hard work and training they have done to get here. What an amazing way to start off the year!”
Everly and Alydia were among 14 members of the US Figure Skating community aboard the flight from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport to Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Follow the NYP’s coverage of the deadly DC plane collision
The Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet was preparing to land on Runway 33 at Reagan National when it collided with the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk 400 feet above the river separating Washington DC and Arlington.
On Thursday, officials said that there are no survivors from the collision. All 60 passengers and 4 crew members aboard the plane, along with the three soldiers in the helicopter were killed.
That same day, US Figure Skating confirmed the skaters, coaches and parents were returning from the National Development Camp that was held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships held in Wichita from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26.
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” the governing body told The Post in a statement.
