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Former Russian Olympians, teen U.S. figure skaters among D.C. crash victims

Rescue crews search the water as dozens are feared dead after an American Eagle regional jet and Army helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI
Rescue crews search the water as dozens are feared dead after an American Eagle regional jet and Army helicopter collided and crashed into the Potomac River on Thursday in Washington, D.C. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo

Jan. 30 (UPI) -- Two former Russian Olympians and American teens Jinna Han and Spencer Lane were among 14 members of the ice skating community killed when their plane collided with an Army helicopter in Washington, officials said Thursday.

Skating Club of Boston executive director Doug Zeghibe confirmed that Russians Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who teamed up for the pairs title at the 1994 World Championship, were killed in the crash, as were Christine Lane and Jin Han, the mothers of 16-year-old Spencer Han and 13-year-old Jinna Han.

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The group was returning home from a national development camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kan.

"Our sport and this club have suffered a horrible loss with this tragedy," Zeghibe said. "Skating is a tight-knit community where parents and kids come together six or seven days a week to train and work together. Everyone is like family.

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"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."

Zeghibe said Maxim Naumov, the son of the former Russian skating stars, flew back to Washington with him Monday after finishing fourth at the U.S. championships.

Shishkova and Naumov, who competed at the Olympics in 1992 and 1994, were working as coaches for skaters from the Club of Boston.

"We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims' families closely in our hearts," U.S. Figure skating said in a statement. "We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available."

The Skating Club of Boston, which is to host the world championships in March, sent 18 athletes to compete in the U.S. Championships and a dozen to the national development camp.

Lane posted an Instagram message Wednesday celebrating his time at the national development camp. He also posted an Instagram story, with a picture taken from his seat on the plane while facing the wing before he took off from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport.

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"I think Spencer ... was just loved by everyone, from the adults running the club, to the smallest skaters, to the people that are competing for a spot at the Olympics, they all just adored him," Lane's father, Douglas Lane, told WPRI 12 in Rhode Island.

"For Christine, the amount of people in the community of Rhode Island that she's touched. ... She just was one of those people who could plug in anywhere and connect with people and build a real bond."

D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told reporters Thursday that there were no survivors in the crash, which prompted a search and rescue operation in the Potomac River that turned into a recovery mission.

That resulted in recovering 28 bodies, including one from the helicopter. There were 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines flight.

"Sadly, this isn't the first time this club has experienced a tragedy like this," Zeghibe said in a news conference. "It's now a ways back, but in 1961, the entire world team of U.S. Figure Skating, en route to the World Championships in Prague, was lost in a plane crash in Belgium.

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"Almost half of everybody on board that plane were from this club. It had long-reaching implications for the skating club and for the sport in this country because when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport, as well.

"It's been a long time in redeveloping it. And I personally feel that this club, the Skating Club of Boston, has just now, almost 60 years later, been coming out of the shadow of that 1961 crash. So this is particularly devastating."

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