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The group was returning home from a national development camp in Wichita, Kansas, when their plane collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter in the skies above the nation’s capital
Among the victims were six members of the Skating Club of Boston, including two teenage athletes, their mothers, and two coaches, according to Doug Zeghibe, the club’s CEO.
They were identified as:
- Jinna Han (Athlete)
- Jin Han (Mother of Jinna)
- Spencer Lane (Athlete)
- Christine Lane (Mother of Spencer)
- Russian-born coaches and married couple Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. The two leave behind their son, Maxim, who was not on the flight. Naumov and Shishkova won titles in the 1994 World Figure Skating Championship in Japan, and are two-time Olympians.
Spencer Lane shared a hair-raising photo from inside of the plane before takeoff to his Instagram story.
"Skating is a very close and tight-knit community," Zeghibe said at a press conference. "These kids and their parents are here at our facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven, days a week. For all of us, we have lost family."
The loss has devastated Boston’s skating community, where athletes and their families spend years training together.
According to the Skating Club of Boston, Naumov was the director of the International Skating Center of Connecticut in Simsbury from 2011 to 2016.
A spokesperson for the Connecticut center said the community was "heartbroken" over the loss.
"We are heartbroken by the tragedy that has impacted our skating community. The skating community is small yet incredibly strong. Our hearts are broken as we process the devastating loss and uncertainty surrounding those involved in this tragedy,” said Juliette Zielinski, Learn to Skate Director and Private Figure Skating Coach in a statement.
The identities of the other victims have not yet been released.
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