Pair of 11-year-old figure skaters died in DC plane crash alongside their moms and coach
A young, promising ice skating duo, their coach and their parents were among those who died in last week’s plane crash into the Potomac River, according to their loved ones.
Ilya “Sean” Kay, 11; Angela Yang, 11; and Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov, 46, were traveling from the National Development Camp in Wichita last week when American Airlines flight 5342 collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport.
The plane had 60 passengers and four crew members on board, and the helicopter was carrying three soldiers. Authorities said there were no survivors.
“This is an unimaginable tragedy that we have not all wrapped our heads around yet,” said Pam Gregory, an ice skating coach at the University of Delaware, in an email to The Star.
Kirsanov and his wife Natalya Gudin coached the young skating duo as part of the University of Delaware Figure Skating Club. Gudin confirmed the death of her husband in another publication last week.
Sean and Yulia Kay
Kay, whose American name was Sean, was also with his mother Yulia, according to a GoFundMe started by Anna Ulyanova, a close family friend.
“Ilya (Sean) was one of the top ice dancers in the country for his age and dreamed of making it to the Olympic team,” Ulyanova wrote in the GoFundMe.
Yulia worked nights as a nurse and spent her days taking Sean and her other children to training and ice time, Ulyanova said.
“His family, and especially their late mother, lived for skating,” she said. “If the children lose the opportunity to skate now, their lives will fall apart even more, and they will lose the last thread connecting them to their past, their dreams, and the loved ones they lost.”
The GoFundMe has currently raised more than $99,000 as of Monday afternoon.
The mother and son are survived by Vitali, Sean’s father and Yulia’s husband, and Sean’s three younger siblings.
Gregory coached Sean starting at 6 years old. She said his personality shined through while performing. Sean won 1st place at Excel Nationals last year in Freestyle and passed his Gold Freestyle test with honors this fall, said Gregory.
Angela Yang and Lily Li
Yang was accompanied by her mother Zheheng “Lily” Li when the plane crashed near the Washington D.C. area airport.
The family moved from Maryland to Delaware so Angela could pursue her ice skating dreams, according to The Skating Lesson, a Facebook page for the ice skating community.
“Angela Yang was the sweetest little girl,” said Gregory, a coach at the University of Delaware. “She made amazing progress in a very short time and always had a positive attitude and had a lot of success in her too-brief career.”
Gregory said Lily, Angela’s mother, was very supportive of her passion for ice skating. The mother and daughter are survived by two of Angela’s siblings and her father who lives in China, according to The Skating Lesson.
Angela won 2nd place at the Solo Dance Nationals this year and 1st place with Sean Kay in Juvenile Dance.
Sasha Kirsanov
Kirsanov was an award-winning professional figure skater. He represented Russia, Azerbaijan and the United States before his last competition in 2004. In retirement, he coached at the University of Delaware and the Chesapeake Figure Skating Club of Maryland.
He and his wife both coached Kay and Yang but decided only one would accompany the duo in Wichita.
“I lost everything. I lost my husband. I lost my students. I lost my friends,” Gudin told ABC News.
Kirsanov is survived by his wife and his daughter Nicole Kirsanov, who is also an ice skater.