We skated together. We grew up in Saint Petersburg and we skated on the same ice,” said Marina Eltsova, of Leawood. “It’s surreal. ... I know there are videos of what happened. I just did not want to see it.

Vadim Naumov, a coach at the Skating Club of Boston, was among the victims of a plane crash near Ronald Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, D.C. Wednesday night. Naumov was traveling with his wife, Evgenia Shishkova, as well as two athletes from the club and their mothers.

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov visited Pittsfield with their son, figure skater Maxim Naumov. The family visited as special guests of the Pittsfield Figure Skating Club at its

Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov’s son Maxim, who medaled in the U.S. Championships in Wichita, was not on the plane that crashed into the Potomac River Wednesday. He flew home earlier in the week.

The young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night were just beginning their journeys to stardom.

World Figure Skating pairs champions frequently shared pictures of their skating pupils, including their son, Maxim Naumov