PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The state of Delaware is mourning a figure skating coach and two young skaters who were among the 67 people killed Wednesday night when their passenger jet collided with an army helicopter at Reagan National Airport.
The American Airlines flight was carrying a number of competitive figure skaters and coaches from Wichita, Kansas, where the U.S. Figure Skating Championships National Development Camp had been held. Some of those skaters who died also had ties to the Philadelphia area.
University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis confirmed Thursday that former UD Figure Skating Club coach Sash Kirsanov was among the 67 people killed in the collision.
U.S. Sen. Chris Coons of Delaware, in a public statement, identified the two young members of the UD Figure Skating Club who were with him.
“I’m devastated to hear the news that at least three Delawareans died during last night’s air collision. Sasha Kirsanov, Sean Kay, and Angela Yang went to Wichita to pursue their passion for figure skating. It is a tragedy that none of them returned home to our state,” the senator said.
“Delaware is a state of neighbors, and tonight we hold all of our neighbors a little closer. My heart goes out to Sasha’s wife Natalia, the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club, and every other Delawarean touched by the three of them.”
Kirsanov and the skaters trained at UD's High Performance Training Center, “which has been the training home for many years of multiple world-class skating champions and competitors,” said Assanis. “The figure skating community is tight-knit, and many of our students and coaches have trained and competed alongside those who were lost.”
Additionally, the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society, based in Ardmore, released a statement on their website and social media pages on Thursday, saying "beloved members of our club" were among those who died in the worst American aircraft tragedy in a generation, expressing "immense grief at the loss of so many talented skaters, their coaches and families."
In a statement, the oldest skating club in America shared "one of the families lost just became members of our club, and another shared his talent with us at our recent 175th anniversary gala." The club did not go into detail about any of those victims.
“It feels like an earthquake went off and we’re all kind of still dealing with the aftershock,” said Laura Mitchell, club president.
She said the U.S. skating community is extremely tight-knit.
“There’s a lot of interaction, a lot of connection, even across the country, of competitors at that level. They all know each other,” she said. “These kids loved what they did.”