Passengers on downed flight included American and Russian determine skaters

WASHINGTON – Passengers aboard the American Airways flight that collided with an Military helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River included determine skaters coming back from the U.S. Determine Skating Championships and two of their Russian coaches.

There have been 60 passengers and 4 crew members on the American Airways flight on Wednesday and three troopers aboard the coaching flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. It was unclear early Thursday if there have been any survivors.

U.S. Determine Skating stated in an announcement that a number of skaters, coaches and their members of the family had been on the industrial flight after attending a improvement camp that adopted the championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.

“We’re devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and maintain the victims’ households intently in our hearts,” U.S. Determine Skating stated in an announcement.

Two of these coaches had been recognized by the Kremlin as a Russian couple who had been pairs world champions 30 years in the past.

Listed here are the passengers recognized up to now:

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Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov

Shishkova and Naumov received the pairs title on the 1994 world championships in Chiba, Japan. They competed twice within the Olympics.

The Skating Membership of Boston lists them as coaches. Their son, Maxim Naumov, is a aggressive determine skater for the U.S.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Shishkova and Naumov had been aboard the aircraft.

“Sadly, we see that this unhappy info is being confirmed,” Peskov stated. “There have been different fellow residents there. Dangerous information at this time from Washington. We’re sorry and ship condolences to the households and mates who misplaced these of our fellow residents who died within the aircraft crash.”

The Worldwide Skating Union despatched an announcement saying it was deeply shocked and heartbroken.