Two highly-regarded Russian determine skating coaches whose son just lately completed fourth on the U.S. Determine Skating Championships had been amongst these feared lifeless after an American Airways flight collided with an Military helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River Wednesday night time.
U.S. Determine Skating confirmed that a number of skaters, coaches and relations had been on the industrial flight after attending a improvement camp that adopted the nationwide championships that wrapped up Sunday in Wichita, Kansas.
“We’re heartbroken to be taught that determine skaters, together with their households, associates and coaches, are understood to be amongst these on board,” U.S. Determine Skating mentioned in an announcement. “Our ideas are with everybody affected by this tragedy.
“Determine skating is greater than a sport — it’s a close-knit household — and we stand collectively.”
The Kremlin confirmed that two of these believed to be lifeless had been Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who had been well-known skaters in their very own proper after successful the pairs world title in 1994 in Chiba, Japan. The 2-time Olympians later moved to the U.S., first as coaches on the Worldwide Skating Middle in Connecticut and since 2017 on the Skating Membership of Boston.
Amongst their college students is their 23-year-old son, Maxim, the previous U.S. junior champion. He has completed fourth at senior nationals the previous three years, narrowly lacking the rostrum Sunday whereas his dad and mom watched at INTRUST Financial institution Enviornment in Wichita.
There have been 60 passengers and 4 crew members on the American Airways flight and three troopers aboard a coaching flight on the Blackhawk helicopter. There was no instant explanation for the collision, however officers mentioned flight situations had been clear because the jet coming from Wichita was making a routine touchdown when the helicopter flew into its path.
“We at the moment are on the level the place we’re switching from a rescue operation to a restoration operation,” John Donnelly, the fireplace chief within the nation’s capital, mentioned in an replace Thursday morning. “We don’t imagine there are any survivors.”
The Skating Membership of Boston, which is about to host the world championships in March, is among the many best-known golf equipment on the earth, producing quite a few Olympic and world champs. Amongst them have been two-time Olympic champion Dick Button, Olympic gold medalist Tenley Albright, two-time Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan and Olympic silver medalist Paul Wylie.
Jimmy Ma, who completed fifth on the U.S. championships on Sunday, is amongst present athletes from the Skating Membership of Boston.
That is the second time a aircraft crash has rocked the determine skating neighborhood.
On Feb. 15, 1961, a Boeing 707 touring from New York to the world championships in Czechoslovakia crashed on strategy in Brussels, Belgium, killing all 72 individuals aboard. That included all 18 members of the American workforce heading to worlds, together with 16 relations, coaches and skating officers that had been on their method to assist them in Prague.
Amongst these killed in that crash had been former U.S. champion-turned coach Maribel Vinson-Owen and her daughters, 16-year-old Laurie Owen and 20-year-old Maribel Owen. Two weeks earlier, Laurie had gained her first ladies’s title and Maribel gained her first pairs title on the nationwide championships in Colorado Springs, Colo. Additionally they represented the Skating Membership of Boston.
The world championships had been cancelled that 12 months out of respect for the American workforce killed within the crash.
The European championships are happening this week in Tallinn, Estonia. They had been anticipated to proceed as scheduled.
“The Worldwide Skating Union and the worldwide skating neighborhood are deeply shocked by the tragic accident involving an American Airways flight in Washington, D.C. We’re heartbroken to be taught that determine skaters, together with their households, associates, and coaches, are understood to be amongst these on board,” the ISU mentioned in an announcement. “We stay in shut contact with U.S. Determine Skating and supply our full assist throughout this extremely troublesome time.”
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