American figure skater Jon Maravilla set the record straight on a story that went viral amid the airline disaster that occurred near Reagan International Airport on Wednesday night.
Maravilla told The Daily Beast in an interview on Thursday he was denied from his flight because of his dog but he was set to fly out of Detroit and not Wichita, Kansas, where the doomed flight originated from. Media reports from Russia originally claimed he was supposed to be on the plane, pointing to Instagram posts from his personal account.
He told the outlet it was unclear where the reports came from but he was heartbroken over the fate of some of his friends.
“I still can’t believe it,” he told the outlet. “I was just with them watching them have lots of fun and just enjoying their time.”
He added that he was in a parking lot when he started to learn the flight that collided with a U.S. Army helicopter had originated from Wichita.
Officials said Thursday there were no survivors of the crash and that the mission went from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. Nearly 30 bodies were pulled from the Potomac River.
LIVE UPDATES: MILITARY HELICOPTER COLLIDES WITH AIRCRAFT NEAR REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT
At least six of those who died in the crash had ties to the Skating Club of Boston.
The Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe identified those with ties to the club as athletes, Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, two coaches, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, and Jin Han, the mother of Jinna, and Molly Lane, the mother of Spencer, were identified as the victims with ties to the skate club.
“Our sport and this Club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” Zeghibe said in a statement posted to social media. “Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together 6 of 7 days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family. Of the skaters, coaches and parents on the plane, we believe six were from The Skating Club of Boston. We are devastated and completely at a loss for words.
“These athletes, coaches, parents were returning from U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp, following last week’s U.S. Championships in Wichita. This camp is for young competitive skaters of tomorrow with the promise to be a champion of tomorrow. The club sent 18 athletes to compete at the U.S. Championships. It sent 12 athletes to the National Development Camp.”
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