Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers and two renowned skating coaches were identified as victims of a fatal crash involving American Airlines Flight 5342.
Doug Zeghibe, the CEO and executive director of the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, confirmed to WCVB that several of his club members were among 14 figure skating team members aboard the plane that crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. late Wednesday.
More news: U.S. Figure Skaters, Coaches Involved in DC Plane Crash: Reports
Skater Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine Lane, skater Jinna Han, 13, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, and her mother, Jin Han, and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were aboard the plane.
Earlier Thursday, the national governing body for figure skating in the U.S. confirmed "several" of its members perished in the plane crash, in which an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided with an Army helicopter and its three soldiers on board.
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. These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National…
— U.S. Figure Skating (@USFigureSkating) January 30, 2025"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.," U.S. Figure Skating announced in a statement posted to its social media accounts 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."
Shishkova and Naumov, natives of Soviet Russia, won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice.
More to come on this story from Newsweek Sports.
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Jon Paul Hoornstra
J.P. Hoornstra writes and edits Major League Baseball content. A veteran of 20 years of sports coverage for daily newspapers ...
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