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From the New York Post: U.S. figure skater Jon Maravilla was denied access to a flight departing Wichita, Kan. on Wednesday due to the size of his dog, but it was not the fatal American Airlines plane that his teammates were on which collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night in Washington, DC.
After false reports of his near-death experience originated in Russian state media and then went viral, Maravilla explained to the Daily Beast what really happened.
Maravilla was scheduled to be on a Delta flight that went to Atlanta before transferring to Detroit.
However, he was told his Bichon Frisé, Yuki, was not allowed to board.
After he was barred from boarding the flight from Wichita to Atlanta with his dog, Maravilla ended up renting a car and driving to his destination: Detroit, Michigan.
Of the deadly crash that killed many of the other skaters he had just spent time with in Wichita, Maravilla said, “I still can’t believe it. was just with them watching them have lots of fun and just enjoying their time.”
Maravilla had posted about not being allowed to board his flight from Wichita on his Instagram page Wednesday, writing: “Not allowed past gate to board flight. Get me tf out of Kansas please.”
In an update, he shared a photo of the highway and wrote, “14-hour journey begins.
A large number of figure skaters who had attended the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas were on the American Airlines flight, including skaters from the U.S. and Russia.
Russian world figure skating champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a married couple, also perished on the doomed flight.
Maravilla reportedly told RIA Novosti, a Russian state news agency, that there were “about 14 figure skaters on the plane, not counting their parents and coaches.”
There’s a lot of conflicting stories about Jon, but he has confirmed he was not supposed to get on the plane to DC, he was trying to get on a delta flight to elsewhere. Still, a great blessing for him though! 🙏🏾https://t.co/Hl2wg9HOLJ
— SharBabezYall (@SharBabezYall) January 30, 2025
Dog saved his life: US Figure skater Jon Maravilla avoided boarding the ill-fated plane due to pet restrictions
During check-in, the athlete was told that his dog was too large for a carrier, so Maravilla ultimately decided to travel by car.#planecrash pic.twitter.com/cqLHQruOqX
— Sputnik Africa (@sputnik_africa) January 30, 2025
DOG SAVES US FIGURE SKATER FROM DC PLANE CRASH
My dog was too large for the carrier, even though this was our return flight, so we decided to drive instead, Jon Maravilla told Sputnik. pic.twitter.com/fKw5gUJjBW
— Sputnik (@SputnikInt) January 30, 2025
MID-AIR CRASH UPDATE: First details emerge of passengers on board fatal flight
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