It has been confirmed that world champion Russian and U.S. figure skaters were onboard the American Airlines plane that crashed with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, D.C.
A PSA Airlines jet operating as American Airlines 5342 travelling from Wichita, Kansas collided with a US Army helicopter as it approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.
The passenger plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members according to American Airlines. It broke into multiple pieces and sunk several feet into Potomac River, while the helicopter ended up upside down on the water, according to reports.
It is unknown how many people have died, but at least 28 bodies have been recovered from the river, according to CBS, and details about those on board have begun to emerge. U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement: “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.”
The 2025 Prevagen U.S. Figure Skating Championships had been held Wichita from January 20 until January 26, the according to the U.S. Figure Skating website. Russian citizens were also on board, the Kremlin confirmed, including ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
Shishkova and Naumov were married to each and won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994. It has been reported they had lived in the United States since 1998, where they trained young ice skaters.
Shishkova and Naumov, who were married to each other, won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and had reportedly lived in the United States since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters. It has been reported their son Maxim, was also travelling with them.
The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters: “There were other of our fellow citizens on board. It’s bad news today from Washington. We are sorry and send our condolences to families and friends.”
President Donald Trump said in a statement, “May God Bless their souls”. He added: “Thank you for the incredible work being done by our first responders.
On his TruthSocial account, he wrote: “This is a bad situation that looks like it should have been prevented. NOT GOOD!!!”