The European figure skating championships have carried on, even as the skating world mourned athletes who died when an American Airlines jet collided with an Army helicopter near Washington, D.C.

Minerva Fabienne Hase frontNikita Volodin of Germany compete in pairs short program at ISU European Figure Skatin

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin put themselves firmly on course for their first European figure skating title in the pairs short program. Hase and Volodin skated a clean program, except for a one-point penalty for a time violation,

Anastasiia Gubanova has taken a narrow lead in the short program as she aims to regain her title at the European figure skating championships.