The moments before 67 souls perished in a midair collision over the Potomac River

A regional jet departed Kansas and headed to one of the country’s most congested and complicated flight approaches, just south of the brightly illuminated marble monuments of Washington, DC. The journey ended as the deadliest US aviation disaster in nearly a quarter century.

Before American Eagle Flight 5342 took to the air from Wichita, Kansas, Wednesday evening, on its way to the nation’s capital, figure skater Spencer Lane snapped a photo of the plane’s wing stretched out over the tarmac toward the horizon. A grayish-blue overcast sky formed a shimmery curtain over the setting sun in the image the teenager posted to his Instagram Stories. The up-and-coming skater wrote “ICT->DCA,” referencing the airport codes for the departure and destination cities. Lane, his mother as well as other budding skating stars, their families and coaches from the US and Russia awaited their departure after attending the US Figure Skating Championships and a development camp for young athletes. In all, 60 passengers and four crew members were on board the commercial jet when it took off at 5:39 p.m. The two-hour, 35-minute journey would deliver them to one of the country’s most congested and complicated flight approaches, a runway at Reagan National Airport, just south of the capital’s brightly illuminated marble monuments. It ended as the deadliest US aviation disaster in nearly a quarter century.