Washington Plane Crash: Skater Escapes Tragedy Thanks to His Dog
Jon Maravilla, a 19-year-old figure skater from the U.S. national team, narrowly avoided tragedy after being denied boarding on an American Airlines flight due to the weight of his dog. The flight, AA5342, crashed on Wednesday night in Washington following a collision with a U.S. Army helicopter. Had it not been for his oversized canine companion, Maravilla would have been aboard, like his teammates returning from a training camp in Kansas.
“Get Me Out of Kansas, Please”
Facing airline restrictions that prevented his dog from flying, Maravilla opted to drive instead, embarking on a 14-hour road trip. Hours before the disaster, he shared an Instagram story:
"I’m not allowed to go past the boarding gate to get on this flight. Get me out of Kansas, please."
Later, he posted another update: “Here we go for 14 hours on the road.”
His unexpected detour turned out to be a life-saving decision.
A Tragedy for the Skating World
The young skater, who regularly competes in pairs with 15-year-old Saya Carpenter in national and international events, expressed deep sorrow over the accident. Speaking to The New York Times, he refrained from naming those on board but confirmed that "about 14 skaters, not including parents and coaches," were among the passengers.
The aircraft, carrying 64 people—including four crew members—crashed on its way from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C. Among the passengers were Russian figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, world champions in 1994, as reported by Russian news agencies.
The Deadliest U.S. Air Disaster in Decades
The circumstances surrounding the crash remain unclear, with U.S. authorities yet to provide an official casualty count. However, U.S. media outlets report that at least 20 bodies have been recovered.
CNN noted that this incident marks the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since November 12, 2001—two months after the 9/11 attacks—when an American Airlines flight crashed in New York, killing all 260 people on board.
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