The two Russian figure skating coaches killed in the American Airlines crash were two-time Olympians and former world champions in the pairs event.They were also a married couple with a son who finished fourth last week at the U.

Russian figure skating pair Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were among those on board when an American Airlines flight collided with a U.S. Army helicopter, the Kremlin said.

A pair of 16-year-old skaters, their mothers, and two Russian coaches were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening, the group's skating club in Boston says.