"Bad news from Washington," said Dmitry Peskov, referring to reports from the USA. Acclaimed Russian figure skaters were reportedly on board the plane. The downed plane was reported to have the 1994 world figure skating champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov on board,

Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River included teen figure skaters, their mothers and Russian coaches.

The figure skating community has reacted with sorrow over the news that several members of U.S. figure skating were on board the passenger plane that crashed Wednesday night. The American Airlines passenger jet collided with an Army helicopter as it approached the runway at Reagan National Airport.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed the Russian figure skaters were on board the crashed American Airlines plane.

Figure skaters, their coaches and family members had been on a flight to Washington after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.

At least a dozen figure skaters, coaches and their family members were on the plane that crashed near Washington, D.C., including two teenage competitors and a Russian husband-and-wife coaching duo.

An American Airlines regional jet carrying 60 passengers, including U.S. and Russian figure skaters, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport Jan. 29.

Russian figure skating pair Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among those on board when an American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army helicopter, the Kremlin said.

Top figure skaters from the United States and Russia were on board the plane that crashed in Washington, D.C., after colliding with a military helicopter.

Former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the flight from Wichita, which hosted last week’s U.S.championships.

A regional jet carrying 64 people collided in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter as the plane was approaching a runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night.

Several figure skaters, their coaches and family members had been on a flight to Washington after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.