Six people affiliated with The Skating Club of Boston, including two young figure skaters, were killed in the deadly crash of American Airlines flight 5342 on Wednesday, January 29.
In a statement posted via Instagram on Thursday, January 30, the club’s CEO and executive director, Doug Zeghibe, announced 16-year-old skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han were killed in the crash, along with their respective mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han.
Skating Club of Boston coaches Vadim Naumov and Evengenia Shishkova, who were married, were also killed.
“Our sport and this Club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” the statement read. “Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together 6 to 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.”
The statement continued, “These athletes, coaches and 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 most 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.”
Spencer Lane Courtesy of Spencer Lane/Instagram
In a separate statement provided by U.S. Figure Skating to news outlet WUSA9 on Thursday, the organization confirmed the deaths of several of its athletes.
“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 statement read. “These athletes, coaches and family members were returning home from National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.”
There were reportedly 60 passengers and four crew members on board the flight when it crashed into the Potomac River after colliding with an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C. There are not believed to be any survivors.
The names of the other passengers on board the plane have not yet been released.
Before taking off from Wichita, Spencer shared a photo from inside the plane via his Instagram Story on Wednesday. “ICT -> DCA,” he wrote, using the airport codes for Wichita’s Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and D.C.’s Ronald Reagan National Airport.