Riley Gaines expresses disbelief over the horrifying Washington air crash while offering condolences

By Janhavi Shinde

Modified Jan 31, 2025 07:20 GMT

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Riley Gaines paid her condolences to the victims of the devastating Washington air crash while expressing her disbelief at the same. On Wednesday evening, an American Airlines regional jet, carrying sixty-seven passengers and four crew members onboard collided while making a landing at the Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 pm ET.

The American Airlines flight 5342 that departed from Wichita, Kansas, slammed into the U.S. Army Black Hawk Sikorsky H-60 over the Potomac River. While a search and rescue operation for survivors is in process, eighteen bodies have been recovered by search crews with no survivors.

Gaines reflected on the tragic loss of the victims in the plane crash while pointing out the contrast between the safety level of aviation and the unfortunate event.

"We live in the safest aviation period in history. How does this happen?"

The former swimmer further offered her empathy while wishing peace for the victims and wrote:

"Prayers."

The American Airlines flight 5342 was also carrying around 14 figure skaters. They were returning from a national figure skating development camp in Wichita. Six of them were associated with the Skating Club of Boston. Amongst them were Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, world champions in pairs competition in 1994.

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Riley Gaines expresses her empathy to Laken Riley's family after following the advancements in the act

In Picture: Riley Gaines at The Megyn Kelly Show in New York City. (Photo by Getty Images)

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025, President Donald Trump signed the Laken Riley Act into law, announcing the administration's plan to send the “worst criminal aliens” to a detention center in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The bill was advanced for signing after being authored by Senator Elizabeth. The requirement for the act arose after an incident that occurred last year when Laken Riley, a 22-year-old nursing student was killed on the University of Georgia campus in Athens by an undocumented Venezuelan national Jose Antonio Ibarra. Following the passage of the bill into an Act, Riley Gaines acknowledged the development and penned a thoughtful message for Laken Riley's family.

"I want to thank our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. Without His sacrifice, Laken's story would've ended on that horrific day she was taken from us," Gaines wrote."May God bless Laken Riley's family."

The act necessitates holding the undocumented migrants charged with theft and similar crimes and to detain them until they are deported.