An American figure skater who was said to be among the victims of the Washington plane disaster has revealed he was never on board the flight in the first place.
Anton Spiridonov posted on Instagram on Thursday morning: ‘Russian news outlets have included me on a list of presumed people on the flight from Wichita to Washington D.C.
‘I was not on this flight, thank you for everyone’s concern for my safety. My heart goes out to all the families affected by this tragedy.’
Everyone aboard an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members from Wichita Airport in Kansas that collided with an Army helicopter was feared dead.
It comes after Spencer Lane, another member of the US figure skating team, shared a photo from inside the doomed plane shortly before it crashed.
The 26-year-old uploaded the photo around 7pm ET Wednesday, which appeared to show the jet taxiing on the runway at Wichita Airport before it took off for its final flight.
Anton Spiridonov posted on Instagram he was not on the plane that crashed in Washington
Spiridonov cited ‘Russian news outlets’ who included him on a presumed passenger list
He captioned it ICT -> DCA – the codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Other elite members of the American figure skating team who were expected at the next winter Olympics were also onboard the plane, a bombardier CRJ700.
They were returning home to the DC area after attending a National Development Camp for young skaters in Wichita, Kansas.
Russian figure skaters Yevgenia Skhiskhkova and Vadim Naumov, who mentored Lane, are also believed to have been on the plane.
Their Team USA figure skater son Maxim 23, was at the Wichita camp although it is unclear if he was also on the fateful flight.
‘We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims´ families closely in our hearts,’ U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement.
At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the midair collision Wednesday night when the helicopter apparently flew in the path of the jet as it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington.
Crews were still searching for other casualties but did not believe there were any survivors, which would make it the deadliest U.S. air crash in nearly 24 years.
Spencer Lane, 26, shared this photo from inside the doomed American Airlines plane as it took off from Wichita Airport in Kansas on Wednesday evening
Spencer Lane is pictured on the podium during a previous tournament. He was on board the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River in Washington DC, killing at least 30
Surveillance footage taken from inside the airport also captured the moment the two collided in midair
‘We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation,’ said John Donnelly, the fire chief in the nation’s capital. ‘We don’t believe there are any survivors.’
The body of the plane was found upside down in three sections in waist-deep water. The wreckage of the helicopter was also found.
Donnelly said first responders on Thursday were searching an area of the Potomac River as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles south of the airport.
Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.
Investigators will try to piece together the aircrafts´ final moments before their collision, including contact with air traffic controllers as well as a loss of altitude by the passenger jet.
Reagan Airport will reopen at 11am Thursday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced. The FAA previously said it would be closed until 5am Friday.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, just sworn in earlier this week, was asked if he could reassure Americans that the United States still has the safest airspace in the world.
‘Can I guarantee the American flying public that the United States has the most safe and secure airspace in the world? And the answer to that is, absolutely yes, we do,’ he said.
Rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River for survivors after the deadly plane crash
Emergency response teams are seen at the scene of the crash in the Potomac River
The plane was being operated as an American Eagle Flight by PSA Airlines for its parent carrier American Airlines
The night was clear, the plane and helicopter were both in standard flight patterns and there was standard communication between the aircraft and the tower, Duffy said.
‘We have early indicators of what happened here,’ Duffy said, though he declined to elaborate further pending an investigation.
It was not unusual to have a military aircraft flying the river and an aircraft landing at the airport, he said. Asked if the plane was aware that there was a helicopter in the area, Duffy said he would say that the helicopter was aware that there was a plane in the area.
Asked about President Donald Trump suggesting in an overnight social media post that the collision could have been prevented, Duffy said, ‘From what I´ve seen so far, do I think this was preventable? Absolutely.’
