Sixty-four people were inside the American Airlines regional jet carving a path through the evening sky from Wichita, Kan., to Washington D.C., on Jan. 29.

A four-person flight crew. A lawyer eager to celebrate her 33rd birthday, seven hunting buddies and a Kansas farming couple visiting their daughter. Twenty-eight people returning from an elite figure skating camp, including skaters, their parents and coaches.

As the plane, Flight 5342, was preparing to land, it collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers, creating a fireball above the Potomac River and killing all aboard both aircraft.

These are many of the victims of the crash, identified by The New York Times through interviews with their families, employers and friends, and official statements.

Business Travelers

Work drew several of the passengers to Wichita, the largest city in Kansas and a Midwestern hub of manufacturing and aviation. Two analysts for Moody’s were on the plane, the company said.

Two women on the plane were colleagues from Wilkinson Stekloff, a Washington, D.C., law firm, and had traveled to Kansas for a deposition.

Ms. Keys, who turned 33 on the day of the crash, was worried their meetings would run long and force them to stay overnight. But things wrapped up, and they made their way to the Wichita airport that afternoon to catch their flight to Reagan National Airport.

“We were super excited she was able to take that flight back,” said David Seidman, Ms. Keys’s longtime partner. “She was coming home.”

They traded a last text before the flight took off: “Safe flight. I love you.”

The Kansans

The only nonstop flight each day between Wichita and the capital was Flight 5342, operated by American Eagle.

The Schrocks regularly made the trip. Their roots and large farm were in Kiowa, Kan., but after their daughter, Ellie, moved east for college, the Schrocks bought a home in Maryland and began splitting their time between the Plains and the coast, friends said.

“They flew back a dozen times a year or so,” said Michael Simpson, who had known the Schrocks for 20 years.

He said the couple were devoted to their Catholic faith and to fitness. They were regulars at Sunday services and also at a local weight room, where they would pull up together in their turquoise Jeep for morning workouts.

“They loved the Lord,” Mr. Simpson said. “They loved their community.”

Ms. Duggins grew up and attended college in Wichita before heading east to Harvard Law School and starting a career as a civil rights lawyer. She returned to Kansas often to see her parents and visit old friends and professors, who remembered her as a “beacon of light” who was passionate about tackling inequalities and abuses in the criminal justice system.

“She was going to conquer the world,” said Dorothy Harpool, a senior marketing educator at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University, where Ms. Duggins earned undergraduate degrees in international business, economics and Spanish.

The Flight Crews

Flying was both a job and a passion for the two pilots and two crew members aboard the nonstop flight from Wichita that had been operating for just a year. The flight crew included:

Mr. Campos had wanted to fly since he was a toddler, said his aunt, Beverly Lane.

“I think he wanted to be free, and be able to fly and soar like a bird,” she said.

Mr. Lilley was engaged to be married in the fall.

“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” his father, Timothy Lilley, wrote on Facebook after the crash. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep.”

The three aviators from the helicopter who were identified by the Army:

Skaters, Parents and Coaches

The plane carried talented and ambitious young skaters from around the country. They had been in Wichita for a development camp hosted by U.S. Figure Skating that followed last month’s national championships.

Many of the young skaters dreamed of competing at the Olympics, and Wichita was a place to make lasting impressions on coaches with U.S. Figure Skating. Edward Zhou, a high school junior from Fairfax, Va., had been on the cusp of qualifying for the U.S. national championships and both gleefully and masterfully performed routines at the camp, according to coaches there. Both his parents died in the crash.

Another teenager from Northern Virginia, Cory Haynos, nailed the triple axel in Wichita and was thrilled to show off his new jump. In December, he had landed that axel for the first time.

“I’d been watching him work on it all week, just fighting to do it,” said Mark Mitchell, one of the U.S. Figure Skating coaches at the camp. “So when I saw him, I just said, ‘Oh, my gosh! Cory just landed the triple axel!’ And he was so happy, just so happy.”

Cory’s parents were accompanying their son.

Olivia Eve Ter excelled on the ice. She was a powerful jumper and had started traveling out of state to compete, propelled by dreams of becoming an Olympian. Her mother, Olesya Taylor, was born in Ukraine and grew up in northern Russia, and believed in taking advantage of every opportunity available to her children in the United States, her husband, Andrey Ter, said. The mother and daughter were on the flight together, returning home to Virginia.

“My wife had no rest,” Mr. Ter said. “She moved so fast, and it all stopped on Wednesday.”

The Skating Club of Boston, in Norwood, Mass., confirmed that two of its coaches were killed in the crash, along with two of their skating students and the mothers of the skaters.

Most of the young skaters on the plane had been in the top group at the camp. They were the “very best young skaters,” Sam Auxier, interim chief executive of U.S. Figure Skating, said, adding, “A key part of the young skating family is gone.” Among them were Sean Kay and Angela Yang, an ice dancing pair from Delaware that had been undefeated in the juvenile division this year. Both 11 and traveling with their mothers and their coach, they were two of the youngest passengers on the plane.

Some of the athletes loved skating so much that their parents could hardly keep them off the ice. In addition to hours of training for U.S. Figure Skating events, the Livingston sisters, Everly and Alydia, performed for the public in outdoor events on some weekends and holidays. “Some competitors didn’t want to skate on outdoor rinks, but the girls were always up for having fun,” said Tara Modlin-Maurizi, a skating agent who produced some of those performances. The girls had traveled to Wichita with their parents, and the four were on their way home to Northern Virginia when the plane crashed.

Brielle Beyer survived cancer when she was just a baby and grew into a tough skater, her coach, Kalle Strid, said. “Sometimes she would get mad at me if we didn’t try the more difficult things,” he said. “She was an extraordinary talent.”

The Hunters

Duck hunting season was almost over in Kansas when the group from Southern Maryland arrived at Fowl Plains, a hunting outfitter that offers guided trips.

The men, many who worked in plumbing and steamfitting, were thrilled to be there, eager to hunt ducks and geese. Some had known each other since childhood, part of a tight-knit community south of Washington.

Mr. Stovall was a steamfitter by trade, a Baltimore Orioles fan and an avid outdoorsman, hunter and snowboarder. His Facebook page was full of photos from his adventures with his wife, son and friends.

Mr. Pitcher knew the men through work, his father, Jameson Pitcher, said.

The elder Mr. Pitcher said his son owned a plumbing business and had been married just over a year. Jesse Pitcher and his wife, Kylie, were in the process of building a new house.

“He was just getting started with life,” his father said.

From Abroad

The flight also carried passengers from other countries.

A colonel in the Philippines National Police, Mr. Malabed had been on a work trip to test out armored vests. His wife, Rio, recalled how their 3-year-old daughter had been crying as she held her father’s hand outside the Manila airport. His wife said he had kissed the girl and told her, “I’ll see you soon.”