NORWOOD, Mass. (news agencies) — Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers, and two former world champions who were coaching at a historic Boston club were among the 14 members of the skating community killed when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter Wednesday night and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River.
Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe said Thursday that skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among those killed, along with 1994 pairs world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov of Russia. In all, 14 of the victims were coming back from a national development camp for promising young skaters following the U.S. Championships in Wichita, Kansas, Zeghibe said.
“We came here because we needed to be together,” 1956 Olympic champion Tenley Albright said while standing in a rink outside Boston that is named for her. “We’re family, and it’s a community and the skaters — the people who were on that plane — they’re our family, too.
“I certainly don’t have any answers. I really can’t believe that it happened, because I picture them right here,” Albright said, breaking into tears. “It’s just terrible, and it’s sad. And we just feel we need to be together. And that’s why you see so many hugs today.”
The Kremlin also confirmed that Shishkova and Naumov were aboard. Among their students was their 23-year-old son, Maxim, a former U.S. junior champion who has finished fourth at senior nationals the past three years, narrowly missing the podium on Sunday while his parents watched at INTRUST Bank Arena in Wichita.
Maxim Naumov flew home Monday. “He had no reason to stay at the national development camp,” Zeghibe said.
“Both of his parents were with him while he was competing. It’s well-known Mom was always too nervous to watch him skate,” the club official said, pausing to contain his emotions. “But his dad was with him, and Dad was in the ‘kiss-and-cry’ sharing his great performance.”
Sixty passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines plane and three soldiers aboard a training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter are presumed dead after the collision in Washington on Wednesday night. There was no immediate cause identified, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet coming from Wichita was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.
Washington Fire Chief John Donnelly said officials do not believe anyone survived.
“We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends and coaches, are understood to be among those on board,” U.S. Figure Skating said in a statement. “Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy.
“Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together.”
Considered one of the most prestigious clubs in the world, the Skating Club of Boston produced Olympic and world champions Dick Button and Albright, Olympic medalists Nancy Kerrigan and Paul Wylie and scores of U.S. champions, with Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov winning the pairs in Wichita just last week.
The club, which is getting ready to host this spring’s world championships, sent 18 skaters to nationals in all.
The U.S. Figure Skating and Massachusetts flags were lowered to half-staff outside the century-old club’s newly built rink on Thursday. Flower deliveries arrived at the reception desk, while visitors were greeted with long and tearful hugs.
“We’ve been through tragedies before — as Americans, as people — and we are strong. And I guess it’s how we respond to it,” said Kerrigan, a two-time Olympic medalist and Skating Club of Boston alum. “And so my response is to be with people I care about, I love and need. I needed support, so that’s why I’m here.”
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