It was a flight from Kansas to the world. Last weekend, Wichita hosted the United States Figure Skating Championship for the first time, and in the following days, the country's federation (US Figure Skating) organized a training camp there for all its skaters and coaches. Most of them left on Tuesday, but the best ones, those selected for international championships, stayed an extra day to fine-tune their programs. Afterwards, everyone left the city.
Late in the afternoon, a bus took a few people heading to the West Coast and the majority heading to the East Coast to Dwight D. Eisenhower Airport in Wichita. According to US Figure Skating, there were numerous members of that group on American Airlines flight 5342 that collided with a helicopter during landing in Washington - reportedly around 15 people according to Reuters, although not all names have been officially confirmed yet.
For now, only four names are known. According to the Russian news agency TASS, two former world champions, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were on the plane with their son, Maxim Naumov, whom they coached. After their success in the 90s, winning a gold in pairs at the 1994 World Championships and finishing fourth at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, the couple received an offer and decided to settle in the small town of Simsbury, Connecticut, where their son was born in 2001.
Maxim Naumov, a skater since childhood, was the junior US champion in 2020 and was striving to make a name for himself among the professionals. In last weekend's competition, he finished fourth - as he did in 2023 and 2024 - and had been named the second alternate for the World Championships scheduled for March in Boston.
TASS also reported that traveling with them was Inna Volyanskaya, another former Russian skater who placed third in the 1980 USSR Championship and had been working as a coach in the United States for years, reportedly leading the Washington Skating Club.
"It is absolutely heartbreaking"
"US Figure Skating sadly confirms that several members of our community were on American Airlines flight 5342. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home after the Development Camp held alongside the United States Figure Skating Championship in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this indescribable tragedy and have the victims' families in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and provide more information as it becomes available," the organization posted on 'X'.
"I am praying for all the passengers on the flight from Wichita to DC. Among the passengers were skaters and coaches. It is absolutely heartbreaking," wrote skater Luke Wang, who had just become the junior US runner-up with his partner, Olivia Flores.