A Disney on Ice skater who portrayed multiple Disney princesses is among the victims who were taken during a crash on Wednesday night in Washington DC. The American Airlines flight from Witchita, Kansas was just short of the runway at Reagan National Airport when it crashed with a US Army helicopter carrying three soldiers. Both aircraft fell into the icy Potomac River with no survivors.
Virginia Rep. Suhas Subramanyam confirmed that famed skater Inna Volyanskaya, 59, was one of the crash victims.
“It’s confirmed that none of the 67 people in last night’s crash survived, including members of our community like Inna Volanskaya, an ice skating coach in Ashburn,” Subramanyam said.
According to her coaching biography, Volyanskaya was a successful skater who competed for the Soviet Union. She went on to join Disney on Ice. There, she performed as Princess Aurora, Cinderella, Belle, and Ariel. She was most known for playing Ariel in Disney on Ice’s The Little Mermaid. She went on to begin coaching in 2002.
“She was one of the best skaters I’ve ever seen, honestly. She was one of the best pair girls to skate,” Volyanskaya’s ex-husband, Ross Lansel, told News4. “She was one of the best skaters I’ve ever seen, honestly,” he said.
Volanskaya was among the 14 who came from the figure skating community that were on the flight. In total, 64 people were lost on the American Airlines flight and three people died on the US Army helicopter.
Daps Magic sends its sincerest condolences to all of those who are grieving the loss of these souls.
