14 Figure Skaters Killed in American Airlines Plane Crash: 'Lost Family'

The figure skating world is dealing with a major loss after American Airlines flight 5342 crashed with multiple members of the community onboard. 

During a Thursday, January 30, press conference, The Skating Club of Boston’s CEO, Doug Zeghibe, said “to the best of our knowledge, 14 skaters returning home” from the U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Wichita, Kansas, were killed in the Wednesday, January 29, crash.

Zeghibe explained “we have lost family” and explained that the tragedy will have “long-reaching impacts for our skating community.”

The Skating Club of Boston sent 18 athletes to compete at the National Championships in Wichita. In a statement released on Thursday, Zeghibe revealed six members of the Club’s community had been killed in the crash: 16-year-old figure skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, their respective mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han, and coaches Vadim Naumov and Evengenia Shishkova.

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Naumov and Shishkova, who were married, were the 1994 world champions in pairs. The couple shared a son, Max, who competed and finished fourth in the men’s event in Wichita, but he left on Monday, January 27, while his parents stayed in Kansas to coach at the U.S. Figure Skating national development camp. 

“Our sport and this Club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy,” the Skating Club’s 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.”

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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.”

In a statement provided by U.S. Figure Skating to news outlet WUSA9 on Thursday, the organization confirmed “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with a helicopter yesterday evening in Washington, D.C.” 

Sixty passengers and four crew members were onboard the flight, which collided with an Army helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport and fell into the Potomac River. There are not believed to be any survivors.