Once again, figure skaters representing the past, present and future of the sport perished in a catastrophic plane crash.

Russian-born ice skating coaches and former world champions Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the American Airlines plane that crashed into the Potomac River in Washington on Wednesday night, the Kremlin and state media said.

Members of the U.S. figure skating community were traveling on the commercial jet that collided with a military helicopter outside Washington. They were returning from a training camp in Kansas.