Vadim Naumov and Yevgenia Shishkova, Russian husband and wife and former world champion figure skaters id as first victims killed in mid-air collision between American Airlines plane and Black hawk military helicopter. 15 members of the U.S champion team and coaches also perished on board plane carrying 64. Military helicopter believed to have been at fault in tragedy.
Initial reports divulging the identity of the victims of an American Airlines plane crashing into a Black Hawk military helicopter on a training run over Washington D.C airport have stated members of the US figure skating team were on board the passenger plane along with former world champions from Russia.
Russian figure skaters and 1994 world champions, husband and wife, Vadim Naumov, 56, and Yevgenia Shishkova, 53, according to Russian media are reported to have been on board the American Airlines plane that crashed into a Black Hawk helicopter, Wednesday night just before 9pm.
Ryan O’Hara id as Black Hawk helicopter crew chief sitting behind 2 very experienced pilots before AA collision
Is Black Hawk helicopter & traffic control tower error to blame for American Airlines collision?
Webcam at the Kennedy Center caught an explosion mid-air across the Potomac. https://t.co/v75sxitpH6 pic.twitter.com/HInYdhBYs5
— Alejandro Alvarez (@aletweetsnews) January 30, 2025
15 team members and coaches from US figure skating team identified as fatal victims
If officially confirmed, the pair would be the first identified victims in the crash which occurred at 400 ft above ground as the American Airlines plane had been given clearance to land at the Reagan National Airport in Washington D.C.
At the time of the crash, there had been 60 passengers and four crew members on AA flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, and 3 soldiers on the Black Hawk.
The pair had been travelling with several members of the US figure skating community, including athletes, coaches and their family members, the sport’s governing body stated.
They had been returning home from the National Development Camp, an advanced training camp for promising young athletes which is held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships, US Figure Skating said in a released statement.
‘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,’ it added in a statement.
As many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating, according to reports.
Stated a post on X: ‘The following skaters and coaches are some of those believed to have been on board AA Flight 5342: Coach Genia Shishkova, Coach Vadim Naumov, Spencer Lane, Jinna Han, Eddie Zhou, Everly Livingston, Lydia Livingston, Franco Aparicio, Coach Inna Volyanskaya, Sean Kay and Angela Yang.’
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🚨BREAKING NEWS UPDATE📰
At least 14 U.S. Figure Skating Championship contestants were on board flight 5342 when it collided with PAT25.The following skaters and coaches are some of those believed to have been on board AA Flight 5342:
Coach Genia Shishkova
Coach Vadim Naumov… pic.twitter.com/n4CzNKk4VZ— Free the World 🇺🇲🌏🦅 (@PatriotVerity) January 30, 2025
What led to American Airlines plane and Black Hawk military helicopter crashing?
The downed plane is said to have split in two and is in around seven feet of water, while the helicopter, a Sikorksy H-60 Black Hawk military helicopter, is upside down and is unstable, NBC reported.
The Federal Aviation Authority said that the jet, a Bombardier CRJ700, collided with the military helicopter while on approach to Runway 33.
Defense officials have confirmed that the Black Hawk was an Army chopper carrying three soldiers on a training flight.
The plane was being operated as an American Eagle Flight by PSA Airlines for its parent carrier American Airlines.
A few minutes before flight 5342’s landing, air traffic controllers asked the arriving commercial jet if it could land on the shorter Runway 33 at Reagan National and the pilots immediately confirmed they were able to do so.
Controllers then cleared the plane to land on Runway 33 and flight tracking sites showed the plane duly adjusted its approach to the new runway.
At the same time, a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk US Army helicopter that had departed from Fort Belvoir in Virginia entered the airspace around Reagan National Airport.
One of my favorite pairs programs in my early days of figure skating fandom – Evgenia Shishkova/Vadim Naumov were playful in their musicality, original in their lifts, and phenomenal in their line. They won 1994 Worlds with this fun free skate pic.twitter.com/FU4f2d8y3n
— Jackie Wong (@rockerskating) March 8, 2023
Did military helicopter error cause American Airlines collision?
This is some of the most tightly controlled and monitored airspace in the world, just over three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
All of the previous jets had made landings on the airport’s main runway, suggesting that the Black Hawk pilots may have expected the American Airlines flight to follow suit and may not have been aware of the change in flight path, the dailymail reported.
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter, whose callsign was registered as PAT25, if it had the arriving plane in sight.
The controller made another radio call to the helicopter moments later at 8.47pm ET – minutes before the American Airlines flight was projected to make its landing.
‘PAT25 do you see a CRJ? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ,’ the air traffic controller said.
Seconds later, the night sky above Washington DC was briefly illuminated by the fireball that erupted as the two aircraft collided. The crash occurred at an altitude of just 400ft and less than three kilometres from the runway.
American Airlines flight 5342 was travelling at a speed of 140mph when it smashed into the chopper.
As of Thursday early morning, some 30 bodies had been pulled to the surface from the frigid Potomac River, with search efforts still ongoing, while a temporary morgue has been set up in the capital to house the bodies.
The last major commercial airplane accident involving a U.S. passenger plane was in 2009 when a Colgan Air flight crashed near Buffalo killing a total of 50 people (49 passengers and crew, and one person inside a house).
