The American figure skating community suffered a severe loss on Wednesday night as six people with ties to the Skating Club of Boston were onboard a passenger plane when it collided with a U.S. Army helicopter.
Officials said Thursday there were no survivors of the crash and that the mission went from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. Nearly 30 bodies were pulled from the Potomac River.
The Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe identified those with ties to the club as athletes, Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, two coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, and Jin Han, the mother of Jinna, and Molly Lane, the mother of Spencer, were identified as the victims with ties to the skate club.
“Our sport and this Club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” Zeghibe said in a statement posted to social media. “Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together 6 of 7 days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family. Of the skaters, coaches and parents on the plane, we believe six were from The Skating Club of Boston. We are devastated and completely at a loss for words.
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“These athletes, coaches, parents were returning from U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp, following last week’s U.S. Championships in Wichita. This camp is for young competitive skaters of tomorrow with the promise to be a champion of tomorrow. The club sent 18 athletes to compete at the U.S. Championships. It sent 12 athletes to the National Development Camp.”
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, confirmed earlier Thursday that Naumov and Shishkova were among those on board the plane.
Naumov and Shishkova competed in pairs during their careers. They won a pairs title at the 1994 world championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice.
U.S. Figure Skating said there were members of its organization on board as well.
“U.S. Figure Skating can confirm that several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.,” the organization said earlier Thursday. “These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas
“We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
The International Skating Union said it was “deeply shocked” over the incident.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together,” the organization said.
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