This story has been updated with new details.
Two media sites that reported a figure skater had avoided a crash that killed 67 people after a mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night said Thursday afternoon the skater had been booked on a flight for Atlanta, not Washington D.C., according to the Daily Beast and the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail originally reported the skater, Jon Maravilla, was supposed to be on the flight to Washington D.C. but corrected its story after the Daily Beast interviewed Maravilla. In an earlier version of its story, the Daily Beast also reported Maravilla was supposed to be on the flight to Washington D.C. but couldn’t board because his dog was too large – a false account that went viral.
The original account has been traced back to RIA Novosti, a Russian state-run agency. Multiple news outlets, following up on RIA Novosti’s report, cited images on Maravilla’s private Instagram story that read, ‘Not allowed past gate to board flight. Get me tf out of Kansas please.’
Apparently after deciding to drive, Marvilla posted at 12:23 p.m., ’14-hour journey begins.”
One of Maravilla’s Instagram accounts is listed as private and a second account did not have details related to the crash.
Maravilla, an American figure skater, and others were in Wichita to compete in the U.S. Figure Skating Championships from Jan. 21-26.
US Figure Skating, the sport’s national governing body, issued a statement saying in part ‘several members of our skating community’ were on the flight.