World Champion figure skaters among passengers in Washington plane crash

Russian state media confirmed couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 World Championships in pairs figure skating, were on board the plane.

Two Russian World Champion figure skaters and several American figure skaters were onboard the passenger plane that collided with a US Army helicopter near Washington DC.

Athletes, coaches and family members were on their way home from the National Development Camp, an event held alongside the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

Russian state media, Tass, confirmed that married couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who won the 1994 World Championships in pairs figure skating, were on board the plane.

Inna Volyanskaya, a bronze medalist in pairs skating at the 1980 USSR Championships, was also among the passengers.

The Kremlin has expressed its condolences to the Russian victims, saying in a statement: “We regret and console with the families and friends who lost those of our fellow citizens who died in the plane crash.”

The US Figure Skating Championships were being held in Wichita from January 20 to January 26.️

US Figure Skating said in a statement: “US Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.

“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.”

STV News is now on WhatsApp

Get all the latest news from around the country

Follow STV News
Follow STV News on WhatsApp

Scan the QR code on your mobile device for all the latest news from around the country

WhatsApp channel QR Code
Posted in