The American Airlines flight that collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter was carrying members of the figure skating community, the U.S. Figure Skating Association (USFSA) said on Jan. 30.
In a statement, the USFSA said: “U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas”
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The competition, which occurred from Jan. 20 to Jan. 26, crowned new champions in senior women’s, men’s pairs and ice dance. The event also included competitions at the novice and junior levels, as well as development camps that are the gateway for athletes to join the national team, which competes at the world and Olympic levels.
The flight included 60 passengers (and four crew persons), but USFSA did not confirm how many passengers were members of the skating community. Russian news agency TASS, citing an unnamed source, reported that Russian-born world champions in pairs skating from 1994 Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among the passengers.
“Our coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on board the crashed plane,” a source is quoted as telling the news outlet. The couple, who competed for Russia and are believed to have married in 1995, moved to the U.S. in 1998 and now coach figure skating at the Skating Club of Boston.
Among their students is their son, Maxim, who competed at nationals and finished fourth in the men’s event. The Daily Mail reported that a teammate said he was not on the flight and had left Wichita earlier in the week. Maxim’s performance earned him a spot on the U.S. team that is due to compete at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul, Korea, in late February.