Figure Skating Champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov’s Son Followed Their Lead

On Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025, an American Airlines flight, American Eagle flight 5342, was carrying 60 passengers en route from Wichita, Kan., to Washington, D.C. During the flight, the plane crashed into a Black Hawk military helicopter. As of this writing, there are no expected survivors of the fatal crash.

Amid the plane crash tragedy, US Figure Skating released a statement confirming that multiple figure skating competitors and instructors were on flight 5342 and were casualties of the "unspeakable tragedy." Two of the victims who have been reported dead were Russian figure skating champions and married couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.

Evgenia and Vadim were on the plane supporting their son, figure skating champion Maxim Naumov. Here's what we know about the couple's family.

Evgenia and Vadim fell in love by chance after connecting through Vadim's figure skating trainer. Throughout their career, they competed — and won — several World Championships, including winning gold at the 1995–96 Champions Series Final (later renamed the Grand Prix Final). The couple's win came after they married in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in August 1995.

In 1998, Evgenia and Vadim retired from figure skating. In August 2001, they welcomed their son, Maxim, into the world. The couple also reportedly had another son, per The DailyMail's report of their death. The outlet shared that Maxim once praised his sister for inspiring him to pursue his figure skating career.

"I want to thank my parents and my sister who opened the door [to figure skating]," he once said.

Evgenia and Vadim's relationship with their son was more than loving. The couple was Maxim's figure skating coach, and they were on the American Airlines flight supporting his career. They were among multiple figure skaters flying to D.C. from Kansas after attending the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita in conjunction with a National Development Camp.

Maxim was confirmed not to have been on the flight with his parents when the crash happened. He left Wichita the Monday, fellow US figure skater Anton Spiridonov confirmed amid the tragedy.

"'I wasn't on the flight," Anton confirmed. "People I knew, I think, were."

"Maxim Naumov was not on board - he left Wichita on Monday," he added. "He was at the airport with me, going through security at the same time."

Maxim has yet to speak out about the tragic plane crash. Before it occurred, his parents' final Instagram post on their figure skating coaching account expressed how proud they were of their son for making strides at the National Championship, taking fourth place in the competition a couple of days before the crash.

"Once again, Maxim made us all proud, getting on to the podium at Nationals after 7th place in the short," the parents wrote. "This beautiful and emotional performance is a result of teamwork. Huge thanks to Serhii and Irina Vaypan and of course to Adam Blake for his wonderful choreography of a classic! Maxim has earned his place in the team of four Continents."

We're offering our condolences to Maxim and the families of all Flight 5342 victims.