Maxim Naumov's parents plane crash details: What to know about 2025 figure skating tragedy

Qualifying for the Olympics is the achievement of a lifetime for any athlete, but the moment meant a little bit extra for American figure skater Maxim Naumov in 2026.

Naumov won bronze at the 2026 U.S. Figure Skating Championships and was named to the U.S. Olympic figure skating team just before the one-year anniversary of his parents' tragic deaths.

After his routine at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Naumov held up a picture of his parents, who were Olympians themselves on two occasions and won a world championship as a pair in 1994.

How did Maxim Naumov's parents die?

Naumov's parents were on board American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a U.S. Army helicopter over the Potomac River on Jan. 29, 2025, killing everyone on board both aircraft.

Flight 5342 included a significant number of passengers associated with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, which were held in Wichita, Kansas. The flight departed Wichita and was less than a minute away from landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, which serves Washington D.C.

Many members of the figure skating community on the flight were on their way back to the northeast, whether by connecting flight or car. 

Three days before the crash, Naumov's parents posted a congratulatory message on Instagram after his performance at the championships. "Once again, Maxim made us all proud, getting on to the podium at Nationals after 7th place in the short," his parents said on their joint account. 

Naumov's parents were impressive figure skaters themselves, as they twice competed in the Olympics and won a world championship in pairs in 1994. At the time of their death, they were coaches at the Skating Club of Boston, which many of the skaters on board the flight were connected to.

Here are more details on the collision over the Potomac River.

MORE: Complete Olympic figure skating schedule

2025 U.S. figure skating plane crash

How did it happen?

American Airlines Flight 5342, operated by PSA Airlines, was approaching the runway at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on a training mission collided with the commercial plane, causing an explosion and sending both aircraft into the icy river. There were no survivors.

Due to wind conditions, Flight 5342 was approaching a runway that isn't as commonly used as the main runway at DCA but can handle smaller aircraft. Air traffic control recordings revealed after the crash that the pilots of the helicopter twice acknowledged a transmission alerting them of traffic nearby.

The helicopter twice requested and was approved for visual separation, which puts the responsibility on the pilot to see the nearby aircraft and avoid it, but it's possible the helicopter pilots were seeing a different aircraft, as other flights were preparing to land on the main runway. Conditions were dark at the time, and the pilots of the helicopter were believed to be wearing night vision goggles as part of their training mission.

Seconds before the crash, air traffic control directed the helicopter to pass behind the plane, but NTSB Jennifer Homendy said information from the helicopter's black box indicates the transmission might have been "stepped on," which means someone in the helicopter inadvertently blocked the transmission by pressing their own microphone key.

The black box from Flight 5342 revealed the pilots of the American Airlines flight might have seen the helicopter only at the very last second, as both pilots exclaimed, "Oh!" and the plane's pitch was increased to maximum level.

How many people died?

67 people died between the two aircraft. Despite rapid rescue efforts, there were no survivors.

64 people were on board Flight 5342, including 60 passengers and four crew members. 28 of the 60 were associated with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships: 11 skaters between the ages of 11 and 16, 13 parents and four coaches, two of which were Naumov's parents.

Naumov, who had already returned home from Wichita at the time, later revealed his parents, made a late switch to get on Flight 5342. 

NTSB investigation

The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board handled the investigation into the collision. In a final report released in January of 2026, the NTSB determined that the probable cause for the crash was the FAA's "placement of a helicopter route in close proximity to a runway approach path," as well as the air traffic control system's "overreliance on visual separation" that doesn't account for the "limitations of the see-and-avoid concept."

The NTSB also listed several contributing factors, namely the helicopter's pilots failure to effectively maintain visual separation, a "loss of situation awareness" in the air traffic control room at DCA, Army training standards and airline scheduling practices at DCA.

In response to a separate lawsuit, the U.S. government admitted partial fault in the crash, claiming the air traffic controller at DCA violated visual separation procedures and that the Army helicopter pilot failed to see and avoid the commercial aircraft. The government also acknowledged that other factors were at play, placing partial blame on American Airlines and PSA Airlines, which operated the flight under the American Airlines branding. 

MORE: Meet the full U.S. Figure Skating roster

How Maxim Naumov made the Olympics

Shortly after winning bronze at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Naumov was announced as one of the 16 athletes selected by US Figure Skating to represent the country in Milan for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

"I would not be sitting here without the unimaginable work, effort and love from my parents," he said after being named to the team. "It means absolutely everything to me, fulfilling the dream that we collectively had as a family since I first was on the ice at five years old. So it means absolutely everything. And I know they’re looking down, smiling and proud."

Here was Naumov's emotional reaction when he officially found out he was an Olympian:

Naumov has kept the memory of his parents close by his side throughout his figure skating journey since the crash.

"Whenever I make a decision, it seems like I'm talking with them and discussing what the right path is," Naumov told Olympics.com ahead of the 2026 games. "I feel their presence in my decision making and my overall mentality for how I approach things. I always feel like they have my back. That's something I feel in my heart; I feel it in my body, in my brain, everywhere, you know."