Elite art skaters, including two Russian world champions, belonged to those on board the aircraft of the American Airlines that crashed on Wednesday evening in Washington, DC, according to local and foreign officials, probably killing everyone on board.
American figure skating confirmed that “different” members of its organization on flight 5342 were that around 9 p.m. local time deposited into the icy Potomac River. A spokesperson refused to indicate how many of his members were on board.
“These athletes, coaches and family members returned from the National Development Camp in collaboration with the American figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas,” said a spokesperson for the organization, the national administrative body of the sport, in a statement to Huffpost.
“We have been destroyed by this unspeakable tragedy and keep the families of the victims closely in our hearts. We will continue to follow the situation and release more information as it becomes available, “they added.
Former world skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were also one of those on board, said a Kremlin spokesperson during a press conference, according to to Reuters And the guardian.
“There were also other of our fellow citizens there,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, According to the Washington Post.
Chris Cole Via Getty Images
The couple won the world championships in Paren Artificial Skating in 1994 and were named Russian National Paren Champions in 1991 and 1996. They were also two -time Olympians.
According to the local media, they lived in the US, while they entered young skaters in Boston, according to coaching profiles in the Boston Skating Club.
The couple has a son Maxim Naumov who skated for the American national team and was named an alternative skater for the American team of 2025 after the American figure skating championship event in Wichita last week, According to us figure skating.
His parents were proud of their son’s performance at the Nationals in one Post on Instagram Tuesday.
Doug Zeghibe, CEO and executive director of the Boston Skating Club, Local Station WCVB told That 14 members of the American figure skating team were on the plane. Two skaters, two coaches and two parents were fleeing with his skating club. Maxim Naumov was not until those on the plane, he said.
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The flight with 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita clashed with a military black hawk helicopter on a training mission. No survivors are expected of both planes, the authorities said at a press conference on Thursday morning.
Twenty -seven bodies were found out of the plane from Thursday morning. One was found from the helicopter, said the fire commander of DC.