US Army Helicopter Collision Leads to Tragic Figure Skating Community Loss
US officials say they do not expect any survivors from the crash. They report that at least 28 bodies have been recovered from the scene.
The plane, which was carrying 64 passengers and crew, collided mid-air with a US Army helicopter just after 21:00 local time on Wednesday (02:00 GMT), and subsequently fell into the ice-cold Potomac River.
According to an unnamed source, as many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating.
The Boston-affiliated skaters were identified as 16-year-olds Spencer Lane and Jinna Hahn by the Figure Skating Club of Boston.
Lane's mother, Christine Lane, and Hahn's mother, Jin Hahn, were also on the plane, along with coaches Naumov and Shishkova.
"Six is a horrific number for us," stated the club's CEO Doug Zeghibe to local media, adding, "This will have long, reaching impacts for our skating community."
On Thursday, Russia confirmed that some of its citizens were on the plane, following Russian media reports that identified Naumov and Shishkova.
In a separate statement, US Figure Skating mentioned that "several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342". The group was returning home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, as noted in the statement.
Wichita had hosted the US National Figure Skating championships from 20 January to 26 January. After the competition, a development camp for young skaters was conducted.
Shishkova and Naumov are retired Russian pairs skaters who won the world championships in 1994. They also competed in the Olympics and later began their coaching careers in the US.
According to Russian news agency Tass, Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight.
