Skate Newfoundland and Labrador is offering its condolences to the U.S. figure skating community following this week’s mid-air collision over Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington D.C.
Of the 67 people who died in the collision between and American Airlines passenger plane and US military helicopter, were 14 members of the US figure skating community, including two world champion coaches originally from Russia.
U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National…
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 30, 2025
Skate Canada NL says it stands in solidarity with their friends at U.S. Figuring Skating at “this moment of profound grief.”
Melissa Colbourne, a volunteer with the Prince of Wales Skating Club in St. John’s calls the tragedy “beyond heart-breaking” and is reverberating throughout the figure skating community.
“It certainly hits hard,” she told Tim Powers on VOCM, noting that this is the sport’s peak season with travel throughout the province and country.