The wife of a Delaware skating coach says she has “lost everything” after learning that her husband was one of the victims killed when an American Airlines plane collided midair with an Army helicopter in Washington, D.C., late Wednesday night.
Natalya Gudin told WPVI that she and her husband, Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov, were both skating coaches in Delaware. She recalled the now heartbreaking decision that she and her husband made that Kirsanov would travel to Wichita, Kansas, for a development camp.
“We are husband and wife,” she told the station. “We decided who’s going, who’s staying home,” she said. “We decided he would go to the development camp.”
Kirsanov, 46, was one of 67 people killed when American Airlines Flight 5342 and a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided near Reagan Washington National Airport at around 9 p.m. local time.
What began as a search and rescue effort turned to a recovery operation after officials said they believed there were no survivors.
Among the victims included several members of the figure skating community. U.S. Figure Skating released a statement confirming that the victims were returning home from a development camp being held after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, which concluded on Sunday.
“I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends,” Gudin told the station.
University of Delaware President Dennis Assanis released a statement Thursday confirming that Kirsanov, a former figure skating coach with the university, was one of the victims in Wednesday’s crash.
OLYMPIC FIGURE SKATER TONYA HARDING CALLS LOSS IN AIRLINE COLLISION ‘ABSOLUTELY DEVASTATING’
“I am incredibly saddened to share the news that several members of the figure skating community connected to the University of Delaware were among those who tragically lost their lives in an aircraft collision last night in Washington, DC,” his statement read.
“Kirsanov and the skaters trained at the University’s High Performance Training Center, which uses UD ice rink facilities and has been the training home for many years of multiple world-class skating champions and competitors. The figure skating community is tight-knit, and many of our students and coaches have trained and competed alongside those who were lost.”
Assanis also confirmed that Kirsanov was with “two young skaters” on the flight. He identified them only as members of the UD Figure Skating Club, but Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., later identified them as Sean Kay and Angela Yang.
“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,” his post on X read.
“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’s daughter, Nicole, also posted a tribute on social media following the loss of her father.
“I miss you Dad, I would do anything to bring you back and tell you that I loved you one more time,” she wrote in a post on Instagram.
Kirsanov was an eight-time national coach and a three-time international junior world coach with nearly a decade of experience.
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