‘Unimaginable loss’: Delaware ice skating community mourns 5 lives lost in D.C. plane crash

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Young figure skaters filed into the University of Delaware ice skating rink Friday morning,  giggling with the anticipation of their daily practice.

As they trekked to the ice beyond the empty lobby, however, the girls passed by a shrine that was just erected in memory of a beloved coach and two promising young ice dancers.

The three members of UD’s close-knit skating community died Wednesday night when an American Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter at Reagan International Airport near Washington. The young skaters’ mothers also died in the crash.

Among the victims are:

• Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov, the beloved former coach at the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club
• Skater Angela Yang, 11, and her mother, Lily
• Skater Sean Kay, 11, and his mother, Julia

The crash killed 67 people, including several skaters, coaches and family members returning from Wichita, Kansas, where they had attended a developmental camp and the U.S. Skating Figure Skating Championships. Kirsanov coached Yang and Kay in their quest for skating stardom.

Their deaths have spurred an outpouring of grief and condolences from Delaware political leaders, including new Gov. Matt Meyer.

Meyer said he and his wife Lauren’s “thoughts are with the families … as they grapple with this new reality, and we encourage all Delawareans to keep them in your prayers.”

The governor also called on the U.S. Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration to “take all necessary measures to make sure a collision like this never happens again.”

U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said that Kirsanov, Kay and Yang and their mothers “went to Wichita to pursue their passion for figure skating. It is a tragedy that none of them returned home to our state. Delaware is a state of neighbors, and tonight, we hold all of our neighbors a little closer.”

UD officials would not agree to be interviewed but president Dennis Assanis mourned the “horrific tragedy” in a statement sent to the school community.

Assanis said the skaters trained at the university’s High Performance Training Center, which used the Fred Rust Arena on the school campus.

The rink “has been the training home for many years of multiple world-class skating champions and competitors,’’ Assanis wrote. “The figure skating community is tight-knit, and many of our students and coaches have trained and competed alongside those who were lost.”

UD athletic director Chrissi Rawak also offered her condolences about the “devastating event” in a Facebook post.

“With a heavy heart we struggle to express the impact of this tragedy on our Blue Hen community,” Rawak said.

Kirsanov’s “dedication — and that of his skaters — forged meaningful connections throughout the UD family,” she wrote. “Coach Kirsanov’s passion and commitment touched many lives, leaving a permanent mark on our campus.”

No one from the club was available at the arena Friday morning when the skaters arrived to practice, and UD officials would not permit any photos of the rink or the shrine in the lobby.

But the UD Figure Skating Club posted on social media Thursday about the “unimaginable loss of our former coach, Sasha, and two incredible skaters from our rink.”

Kirsanov “was more than just a coach — he was a mentor, a friend and a light in the skating world. His passion for this sport was contagious, and his kindness, wisdom and unwavering belief in his skaters helped so many of us grow both on and off the ice,” the post said.

Outside the rink Friday, two members of UD’s men’s ice hockey club expressed sorrow for the Delaware skating community.

“It’s very sad to hear,’’ UD senior Kyle Kosh said, adding that he couldn’t imagine how he would feel if one of the kids he knows on the Delaware Ducks youth ice hockey club had been killed.

“So it’s pretty touching and I’d like to show some support and I think our team would show some support as well.”

Sophomore Rex Maloni echoed those thoughts.

“It’s a terrible tragedy,’’ Maloni said. “We see those figure skaters out on the ice all the time. They’re on the ice before us and practice a lot.”

Maloni said he’s flown into the airport numerous times and cringes when he thinks about the midair collision that occurred as the passenger jet was about to touch down on the runway.

“There’s many times where I text my family ‘landed’ when I’m still flying over [the Potomac River] and I just assume we’re safe,’’ he said. “You can never assume you’re safe until you’re really safe.”

Dave Lease, a journalist who covers the skating world through his social media page titled The Skating Lesson, bemoaned the loss of so many lives.

“A tragedy of this magnitude is having so many effects on the figure skating community, especially in the University of Delaware. They lost two kids and their moms, as well as a beloved coach,” Lease said.

Lease noted that Kirsanov’s widow is also a coach, and his children are skaters.

“This is human life and families are forever changed by this,” Lease said. “So, it’s really just unthinkable, something that can’t really be measured, just the size of this impact and how many people are touched by it.”