Authorities say a former Ukrainian champion figure skater was killed in the crash of a small plane at a southwestern Pennsylvania airport.
Officials said 52-year-old Igor Novodran of Upper St. Clair was practicing touch-and-go landings when the plane crashed near the runway at Washington County Airport shortly after 2 p.m. Tuesday.
The Allegheny County medical examiner's office said Novodran was flown to UPMC-Presbyterian hospital, where he died about an hour and a half later.
Fire crews said the front of the 1998 Avid Bandit aircraft was destroyed and the cockpit badly damaged.
Novodran, a Ukrainian National Champion skater in his youth, had in recent years coached skaters in international competitions.
Kim Sailer, who coached with him at the Island Sports Center, said he had been flying for about five years.
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