Figure skating coach Natalya Gudin is mourning the death of her husband, Alexandr Kirsanov, and their students after the American Airlines plane crash.
“I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends,” Gudin told ABC News on Thursday, January 30.
Kirsanov, who coached young skaters in Delaware alongside his wife, accompanied two students to the U.S. Figure Skating’s development camp in Wichita, Kansas, earlier this month. Their flight home on Wednesday, January 29, collided with a military helicopter and crash-landed in the Potomac River.
“We are husband and wife,” she told the outlet. “We decided who’s going, who’s staying home. We decided he would go to the development camp.”
‘Several’ U.S. Figure Skating Team Members Involved in D.C. Plane Crash
According to Gudin, she last spoke to Kirsanov before he boarded the aircraft with the young athletes. Kirsanov had told Gudin on the phone, “It’s time for boarding,” and was due to call her back when the flight landed at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Virginia.
After the plane crashed, Gudin never got a phone call from her husband. She learned of the incident from another parent whose child was on the flight and “immediately” wanted to go to D.C. Gudin told ABC News that she was waiting for additional information about Kirsanov’s remains.
“I need my husband back. I need his body back,” she stated.
At least 14 figure skaters were onboard the aircraft, which also serviced approximately 46 other passengers and four crew members.
Figure Skaters Share Tributes After Fatal Potomac River Plane Crash
“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.” a statement from the skating organization read on Thursday. “These athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.”
The statement continued, “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.”
The students traveling with Kirsanov were named Sean Kay and Angela Yang, according to Delaware Senator Chris Coons.
“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,” Coons said in a statement. “It is a tragedy that none of them returned home to our state. 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 Natalya, the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club and every other Delawarean touched by the three of them.”
