Washington DC plane crash: World champion figure skaters and coaches among victims of mid-air collision

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Dozens of people are feared dead after an American Airlines passenger jet carrying 64 people crashed mid-air with an Army Black Hawk helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport.

Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, where the flight originated, suggested most if not all 67 of those on board both aircraft had been killed in Wednesday night’s collision, with BBC News reporting at least 19 bodies have now been recovered from the water. US Figure Skating said on Thursday that several members of their community were on the plane.

Jack Potter, the president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said first responders were in “rescue mode”, while all flights in and out of Washington, DC’s Ronald Reagan National Airport have been paused until at least 11am on Thursday.

The midair collision occurred as the passenger jet, traveling from Wichita in Kansas, was on approach to land at Reagan. Radio communications between the air traffic control tower and the Black Hawk showed the helicopter crew knew the plane was in the vicinity. Video footage from the nearby Kennedy Center shows two sets of lights consistent with separate aircraft appearing to conjoin in a fireball.

“I have been fully briefed on the terrible accident which just took place at Reagan National Airport,” President Donald Trump said, as the Pentagon announced it was launching an investigation. “May God Bless their souls.”

American Airlines confirmed 60 passengers and four crew members were aboard the jet. The helicopter, on a training flight, was carrying three soldiers, none of whom were senior Army officials, US authorities said.

As the search and rescue mission continues, The Independent takes a look at who was on board both aircraft.

The couple won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and have reportedly lived in the US since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters (Instagram/@team.genia.vadim)

Evgenia Shishkova among several skaters

US Figure Skating, the governing body for figure skating in the US, said on Thursday that several skaters were on the American Airlines regional passenger plane that crashed near Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday.

The body said athletes, coaches and family members were returning from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Kansas.

“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts,” it said in a statement.

A source told Reuters that as many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating.

Officials have not said how many people died in the accident but have suggested that there may be no survivors.

Russian state media, meanwhile, reported that ice skating coach and former world champion Evgenia Shishkova, her husband and possibly her son were among those on board the plane.

The couple were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters (Getty Images)

Vadim Naumov

Ms Shishkova’s husband Vadim Naumov was also among those on board the American Airlines passenger jet, Russia’s TASS and RIA news agencies reported.

He is similarly an ice skating coach and former world champion.

The couple won the world championships in pairs figure skating in 1994 and have reportedly lived in the US since at least 1998, where they trained young ice skaters.

Their son Maxim, who competed for the US in singles, is also feared to have been on board the plane, Russia’s TASS and RIA news agencies reported. He had been competing at the US figure skating championships in Wichita, Kansas from 20-26 January, according to the event’s website.

The couple were reported to have been returning from the competition and travelling with a group of young skaters. Russia’s Mash news outlet published a list of 13 skaters, many of them the children of Russian emigres to the US, who it said were believed to have been on the plane.