An IUP grad and former Johnstown woman, her husband and two children were among the 67 people killed Wednesday when a plane collided with an Army helicopter approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C.
Donna Smojice Livingston graduated in 1999 from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a marketing degree, according to WJAC. She and her husband, Peter, and daughters Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11, were on the plane that crashed into the Potomac. Officials have said they do not believe anyone survived the wreck.
Donna Livingston, a Westmont High School graduate, had moved to Virginia after college, where she met her husband, WJAC reported.
“We share in the nation’s grief and heartbreak over this terrible tragedy,” IUP Assistant Vice President for Advancement Jennifer Dunsmore said. “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.”
The deadly collision involved a jet flying out of Wichita, Kansas and a military helicopter that was on a training exercise. Federal investigators are probing the cause.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed several of its members were on the plane. A manager at Ashburn Ice House in Virginia told WTAJ that Livingston’s daughters were among its members who perished.
“Our heartfelt condolences go out to all the people affected by the terrible plane accident last night,” Ashburn Ice House said in a statement posted to social media. “It is with heavy hearts that we have learned that our figure skating community has been directly affected.”
A makeshift memorial has been put together at Ashburn Ice House, WTAJ reported.
“The figure skating community is a close-knit, worldwide family and our hearts go out to all affected by this terrible tragedy,” it said in its statement.
