Potomac Crash

DC plane crash is 2nd time US Figure Skating suffered aviation tragedy

In eerily similar history, 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating team were killed in a 1961 plane crash while they were on their way to the World Championships in Prague

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A plane carrying the U.S. figure skating team to the 1961 World Championships crashed as it neared the Brussels airport, killing everyone on board — a catastrophe that cast a long shadow over the sport, the CEO of the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday, after losing more members in the American Airlines plane crash in Washington, D.C.

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A plane crash outside Reagan International Airport in Washington, D.C. claimed the lives of dozens of people, including 14 members of the figure skating community. Grieving members of that community worry that the loss of skaters, coaches and their family members could have far-reaching impacts on the sport, which has seen this kind of tragedy before.

Six of the people presumed dead in the Wednesday night crash belonged to The Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts. Doug Zeghibe, the chief executive officer at the Skating Club of Boston, said it's devastating for a tight-knit sport.

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Zeghibe identified his six members. Two of them - Spencer Lane and Jinna Han - were talented teenage athletes, two were their parents - Christine Lane and Jin Han, and two were beloved coaches -  Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. They were all returning from the National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas.

"It’s a major personal loss but its also a loss to our skating community," Zeghibe said.

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It is a particularly painful blow for the Boston club, where older members remember another devastating plane crash.

In February 1961, 18 members of the U.S. Figure Skating team were killed when Sabena Flight 548 crashed in Belgium on its way to the World Championships in Prague. Many of the top skaters on that team, including sisters Laurie and Maribel Owen, were from the Boston club.

"Almost half of everybody on board that plane were from this club," explained Zeghibe. "It had long reaching implications for this 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.”

He said that although the crash happened decades ago, its impact still mars the club's history.

"I personally feel that this club, the Skating Club of Boston has just now, after 60 years later, been coming out of the shadow of that 1961 crash, so this is particularly devastating," Zeghibe said.

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Air Traffic Control shared raw audio from before and after the collision outside of Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night.

Shishkova and Naumov, who were married former World Champions, retired from competition skating for Russia to coach in the U.S.. They were considered innovators who brought the lessons of their home country to the sport in the U.S. Zeghibe said they were excellent role models for young skaters, valuing discipline and toughness while also embracing the family-like environment of their club.

“We have a hole in our coaching staff, a giant hole….I’m not quite sure how we’re going to fill that," Zeghibe said.

Spencer Lane was a sectionals champion who had become popular among the skating community on social media, where he has thousands of TikTok followers. Jinna Han was a strong competitor who was "loved by all," according to Zeghibe.

Inna Volyanskaya, an ice skating coach in Ashburn, Virginia, was also on the plane, according to a post from U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam

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.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Team coverage: 6 Boston skating club members aboard fatal DC plane crash
The Boston Skating Club in Norwood, Massachusetts, is in mourning after six of its members are believed to have been killed in the deadly Washington, D.C., plane crash overnight. Watch team coverage of this unfolding tragedy. Follow NBC10 Boston: https://instagram.com/nbc10boston https://tiktok.com/@nbc10boston https://facebook.com/NBC10Boston https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston https://bsky.app/profile/nbcboston.com
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