Father Whose Household Perished in D.C. Airplane Crash Constructed Yard Ice Rink For Daughters (Unique)

Everly, Alydia, Donna and Peter Livingston, 4 of the passengers on American Airways flight 5342, are being remembered by mates.

The Livingston household was headed to Washington, D.C., from Wichita, Kan., on the night of Wednesday, Jan. 29, when an American Airways regional passenger airplane was struck midair by a U.S. Military Black Hawk Helicopter close to Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport. The tragic collision had no survivors and is the deadliest airplane incident within the U.S. since 2001.

The helicopter carried three troopers, whereas the flight carried 60 passengers and 4 crew members, together with the Livingston household. Everly, 14, and Alydia, 11, have been sisters who competed with the Washington Determine Skating Membership and have been attending a Kansas competitors. Their dad and mom, Donna and Peter, joined them on the occasion. 

On Friday, Jan. 31, Peter’s good friend Ted Boyke solely tells PEOPLE that his late good friend “put his household first” and that Donna and his daughters have been “every part to him.”

Boyke, who had recognized Peter since highschool, says he and his good friend have been “lifelong buddies.” 

“Pete was a man who was captivated with ice skating or about passing it on to his daughters. He was the kind of man who would give you a wild plan and also you’d say, ‘That sounds nice, however it’s going to by no means occur.’ After which he would exit and obtain it,” Boyke, 48, remembers of his good friend. 

Boyke tells PEOPLE that when Everly was born, Peter “talked about constructing an ice rink within the yard and getting her began ice skating.” 

“I believed, ‘That is unimaginable, however that can by no means work. How are you going to have an ice rink in your yard?’ ” Boyke remembers. “He not solely did it … however then his daughters went on to be elite ice skaters.”

Boyke reveals that Peter, additionally an avid hockey participant, named the rink the Livingston Ice Rink.

“He was recognized for each winter [for] placing down a tarp, boarding it off, pouring water into an ice rink that may freeze within the Virginia winters, and his daughters would observe there,” Boyke tells PEOPLE. “Throughout COVID, they have been in a position to observe that means when the ice rinks have been closed quickly.”

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Peter beloved being an actual property agent as a result of it allowed him versatile hours in order that “he might be there to assist his daughters prepare in ice skating [and] take them to meets and competitions,” Boyke says.

“He put them first. He was actually captivated with that, and about their enjoyment of ice skating,” Boyke provides. “What I am making an attempt to take from this tragic loss is that in case you have a wild dream otherwise you’re captivated with one thing in life, simply go for it.”

“That is what Pete did, and that is the instance I need to comply with,” he says.