67 Dead in D.C. Plane Disaster AN UNIMAGINABLE TRAGEDY'

AN AMERICAN AIRLINES JET AND AN ARMY HELICOPTER COLLIDED AND EXPLODED OVER WASHINGTON, D.C., IN THE WORST U.S. AVIATION INCIDENT SINCE 2001. WHILE AUTHORITIES HUNT FOR ANSWERS, THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES SHARE WRENCHING STORIES OF LOVE AND LOSS

- JOHNNY DODD

Spencer Lane had spent a thrilling few days at a prestigious training camp for rising young figure skaters when he and mom Christine boarded their flight out of Wichita, Kans., on Jan. 29. “I learned so much,” the 16-year-old from Barrington, R.I., shared with friends on social media that day, along with a photo of some of the “amazing people” he met. His plane was still sitting on the tarmac when Spencer felt the need to capture one last memory, snapping a quick shot out his window of the wing beneath a slate-gray winter sky. The caption was brief: “ICT->DCA,” referring to the airports. And then the boy, who in just three years had gone from stumbling on the ice to being an aspiring Olympian, headed home.