Among the victims of Wednesday’s deadly jet-helicopter crash in Washington D.C., were six members of the Skating Club of Boston, including a pair of teenage figure skaters, an official said Thursday.
Skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, who were around 16, and both of their mothers were killed, as were coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, the club’s executive director, Doug Zeghibe, said at a news conference.
They were among 14 members of the figure-skating community believed to have died in the mid-air collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter, Zeghibe said.
“This will have long-reaching impacts for our community,” Zeghibe said.
Han and Lane had participated in a development camp attached to last weekend’s national championships in Wichita, Kansas.
They were selected for the camp due to their strong standings as up-and-coming skaters and were believed to be traveling back to Boston with a connection in D.C., Zeghibe said.
“Skating is a very close and tight-knit community,” Zeghibe said. “These kids and their parents, they’re here at our facility in Norwood, [Mass.], six, sometimes seven days a week. It’s a close, tight bond.”
Shishkova, 52, and her husband Naumov, 55, were retired Russian skaters who won a pair-skating world championship in 1994 and also competed together at two Olympics. In retirement, they had worked in the U.S. as coaches, including at the renowned Skating Club of Boston since 2017.
They are survived by their 23-year-old son, Maxim Naumov, who flew home Monday after finishing fourth at senior nationals for a third year in a row. He is the 2020 U.S. junior national champion.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy,” the International Skating Union said in a statement. “Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together.”
Each of the 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the commercial American Airlines flight were feared dead, according to officials, after the jet collided with a Blackhawk helicopter around 9 p.m. near Reagan National Airport and hurtled into the Potomac River.
The helicopter was being used for a training flight and had three soldiers aboard. It is unclear what caused the crash.
On Thursday morning, officials said the focus had turned to a recovery operation.
“We don’t believe there are any survivors,” D.C. Fire chief John Donnelly said.
Wednesday’s tragedy occurred nearly 64 years after a flight traveling from New York to the figure skating world championships in Prague crashed on Feb. 15, 1961.
That crash in Brussels killed all 72 people aboard, including 18 members of the U.S. team and 16 others who were traveling with them.
With News Wire Services
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