Young figure skater saved from doomed American Airlines flight because his dog was too big to board

A young American figure skater was saved from the doomed American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter after he was barred from boarding the plane because his dog was too big.  

Jon Maravilla was set to be among the passengers on board Flight 5342, which plunged into Washington DC’s Potomac River after the midair collision with a Black Hawk helicopter shortly before 9pm ET Wednesday.  

The figure skater told RIA Novosti that after he was told he couldn’t bring his dog onboard, he decided to take a car instead.

Maravilla posted about the ordeal on his Instagram story Wednesday, writing: ‘Not allowed past gate to board flight. Get me tf out of Kansas please.’ 

In a follow-up post at 12:23 from the road, he wrote: ’14-hour journey begins.’ 

The figure skater told RIA Novosti that there were at least 14 figure skaters on board the plane, as well as coaches and parents. 

‘I don’t want to name names,’ he said, describing the incident as ‘such a tragedy.’ 

A large number of skaters had been in the Wichita area for the US Figure Skating Championships, which were held last week at the city’s Intrust Bank Arena. 

The sport’s national governing body, US Figure Skating, confirmed that ‘several members of our skating community’ were on the flight. 

‘These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas,’ they said in a statement. 

‘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.’ 

Among the figure skaters on board the flight were married Russian figure skaters Yevgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56. 

The couple won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994. 

All 60 passengers and four crew member aboard the flight, as well as three people on the helicopter, are believed to be dead.

‘Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,’ said Jack Potter, Chief Executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

The plane collided with the Black Hawk helicopter just 400ft above the ground as the plane approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport shortly before 9pm ET. 

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy called the crash ‘preventable.’

‘I would say that the helicopter was aware that the plane was in the area,’ Duffy said.

‘We are going to wait for all the information to come in from this vantage point, but… what I’ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.’

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom appeared to blame the Black Hawk pilot for being in the wrong place.

‘At this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft,’ he said.

PSA Airlines is a regional subsidiary of AA that flies small planes on lesser-used routes.