At least 14 members of the US Figure Skating team were on the American Airlines flight that collided mid-air with a military helicopter over Washington, DC, Wednesday night, a skating official said.
Six members of the US Figure Skating team on the doomed flight were affiliated with the Skating Club of Boston, the club’s CEO and executive director Doug Zeghibe said, according to WCVB.
Skater Spencer Lane, his mother, Molly, skater Jinna Han, and her mother, Jin, and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were all aboard the plane.
“Skating is a very close and tight-knit community. These kids and their parents — they are here at our skating facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven days a week. It is a close, tight bond, and I think for all of us, we have lost family,” Zeghibe said.
Zeghibe described Spencer as a “highly-talented kid” who was “rocketing to the top of the sport,” while Jinna he remembered as a “wonderful kid, great athlete, great competitor.”