The American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas that collided with a helicopter in midair before they both crashed into the Potomac is a huge tragedy.
There are still reports coming out about the bodies that are being recovered and the search for survivors. But what we do know is that there were figure skating personnel from the United States who were on board American Airlines flight 5342. There are reports that Russian figure skating coaches were on board as well.
As news continues to come out of this horrific accident, here’s everything we know so far about it and what’s been reported about the figure skaters:
The jet collided with an Army helicopter
“Authorities said American Airlines flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was preparing to land at the airport before it “collided in midair” with the helicopter around 9 p.m.” …
Area officials have not said how many people died or were injured in the collision. “We can’t provide any more information about recovery efforts,” Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in the early hours of Thursday morning. Bowser and other area leaders will give another update at 7:30 a.m.
U.S. Figure Skating confirmed there were skaters and others coming back from Wichita, Kansas on board
From the organization’s statement:
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.
We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.
Russian media and the Kremlin said two Russian skaters and coaches were on board
Russian-born ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River in Washington on Wednesday night, the Kremlin and state media said.
Shishkova and Naumov, who were married to each other, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994, and U.S. media said they had lived in the United States since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters.
We’ll update this as we know more.
