"This is heartbreaking" — Internet reacts to figure skater Spencer Lane's photo from the doomed American Airlines flight going viral after the crash

A photo taken by US figure skater Spencer Lane just hours before his American Airlines flight crashed into a military helicopter has been going viral on social media.

For the unversed, American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a US Black Hawk military helicopter on its way to Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, DC. It fell into the Potomac River around 9 pm on January 29, 2025.

That evening, the flight departed from Wichita, carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members. According to the New York Post, several US figure skaters and coaches were aboard, including rising star Spencer Lane.

Spencer Lane posted a picture of the plane's wing from his seat on Instagram stories just minutes before takeoff. The caption, "ICT to DCA," indicated the codes for the airports in Wichita and Washington, D.C.

Several netizens left heartfelt comments regarding Spencer Lane's picture as it circulated on social media, with one user posting:

"God bless him this is heartbreaking. It appears many were very young."

Many users posted words of condolence on hearing about the flight collision, praying for Spencer Lane and his teammates.

"OMG! This is really heartbreaking. Prayers for every soul involved," one user tweeted.

"This is extremely tragic. Prayers for them and their families," another person added.

"This is heartbreaking. Keeping Spencer and his family in my thoughts and prayers. Hoping for a miracle and his safe return," someone else commented.

"Heartbreaking. And praying for Spencer Lane and his family. Just watch the graceful magnificence of his skating," another user said.

Others wondered what caused the accident, with many wondering if the collision was intentional.

"Praying for survivors. If I had to guess, this was malicious. I refuse to believe that incompetent people can fly black hawk helicopters," one person posted.

"Makes u wonder if this s**t happened on purpose or not cuz the helicopter had to close calls and then it hit and on top the helicopter was to dark really makes yah wonder," someone else added.

"Anyone else getting that weird feeling that this was no accident? It happened to get us to react and find someone to blame for this like we did before? Where have we read this book before????" another person questioned.

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Spencer Lane and his team were in Wichita for the National Development Camp

According to the New York Post, US Figure Skating confirmed to the publication that Spencer Lane and his teammates were in Wichita for the US Figure Skating Championships' National Development Camp held between January 20 and January 26.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.," the statement added.

Spencer Lane's latest Instagram post is a picture of him with his teammates in Wichita, uploaded to the platform on the day of the accident. In the caption, the young figure skater says he qualified for the camp in November 2024 and calls it an "amazing experience."

Spencer Lane also thanked US Figure Skating and the local organizing committee for "making everything happen."

According to the Wichita Eagle newspaper, Luke Wang, a Team USA pair skater, told McClatchy News that some skaters who qualified for the elite division remained in Wichita while others boarded the ill-fated plane. It is unclear how many US figure skaters and coaches were aboard the flight.

Meanwhile, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, the husband-wife Russian world champion figure skating duo, were also onboard American Airlines Flight 5342. The pair had been in Wichita for the figure skating championship to support their son Maxim, who won 4th place at the Free Skate Championship event. It is unclear whether Maxim was on the flight with them at the time of this article.

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The collision between the American Airlines Flight 5342 and the Black Hawk military helicopter (carrying three US soldiers) happened when both aircraft were above the Potomac River. According to People Magazine, first responders said the collision split the airplane in half before it fell into the river.

At least 19 bodies have been recovered so far; however, there are no signs of any survivors at the time of this article. Over 300 responders are working on the ongoing rescue operation, which is expected to take days due to "extremely rough" conditions.