US midair crash: Figure skating in shock as athletes, coaches perish

Wreckage of the passenger aircraft in the Potomac River. PIC/AFP

Global figure skating's tight-knit community was in mourning over the deaths of two former world champion coaches and young stars from the next generation of top US talent. Former Russian world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov and as many as 14 young American skaters perished when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided midair with a US Army helicopter on Wednesday night in Washington DC and plunged into the Potomac River.

Doug Zeghibe, chief executive of The Skating Club of Boston, said six club members were on the plane, including 1994 world pairs champions Shishkova and Naumov. They were all returning from US Figure Skating's national development camp, conducted in Wichita following last week's US championships there. "This camp is for young competitive stars of tomorrow," he said.

Daughter of POIs killed

Asra Hussain Raza, 26, the daughter of Indian immigrants, was among 67 killed in the crash near Ronald Reagan National Airport. Raza was a Washington DC-based consultant who travelled to Wichita twice a month for work.

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