A young American figure skater was saved from the doomed American Airlines flight that collided with an Army helicopter after he was barred from boarding the plane because his dog was too big.
Jon Maravilla was set to be among the passengers on board Flight 5342, which plunged into Washington DC’s Potomac River after the midair collision with a Black Hawk helicopter shortly before 9pm ET Wednesday, Jan. 29.
The figure skater told RIA Novosti that after he was told he couldn’t bring his dog onboard, he decided to take a car instead.
After he was denied a chance to boatd, Maravilla took to his Instagram story to write: “Not allowed the past gate to board flight. Get me tf out of Kansas please.”
In a follow-up post at 12:23 from the road, he wrote that he has now started a much longer journey because he wasn’t allowed to travel by air.
“14-hour journey begins,” he wrote on Wednesday, Jan. 29, before the plane he was supposed to be on crashed.
The figure skater told RIA Novosti that there were at least 14 figure skaters on board the plane, as well as coaches and parents.
“I don’t want to name names,” he said, describing the incident as “such a tragedy.”
A large number of skaters had been in the Wichita area for the US Figure Skating Championships, which were held last week at the city’s Intrust Bank Arena.
The sport’s national governing body, US Figure Skating, confirmed that “several members of our skating community” were on the flight.
“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas,” they said in a 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.”
Among the figure skaters on board the flight were married Russian figure skaters Yevgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56.
The couple won the world championship in pairs figure skating in 1994.
All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the flight, as well as three people on the helicopter, are believed to be de@d.
“Unfortunately we were not able to rescue anyone,” said Jack Potter, Chief Executive of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.