The China Mail - Elite figure skaters and coaches on crashed US flight

Former Russian world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who became elite skating coaches, and as many as 14 US skaters were lost when a plane collided midair with a US military helicopter on Wednesday night.

American Eagle Flight 5342, preparing to land after a journey from Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday night and crashed into the Potomac River, with US President Donald Trump announcing Thursday there were no survivors.

Doug Zeghibe, executive director and chief executive officer of The Skating Club of Boston, confirmed six club members were on the plane, including 1994 world pairs champions Shishkova and Naumov, and said many more were believed to be on the plane.

"To the best of our knowledge, 14 skaters returning home... were lost in the plane crash," Zeghibe said.

Zeghibe said the passengers were returning from US Figure Skating's national development camp, conducted in Wichita following last week's US Figure Skating Championships there.

"This camp is for young competitive stars of tomorrow with the most promise to be a champion of tomorrow," Zeghibe said.

US Figure Skating, in a statement, said only that several people from its programs were lost in the crash.

"US 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 DC," the national governing body said in a statement.

"These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the national development camp held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.

"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."

The Skating Club of Boston said skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane and Naumov and Shishkova were aboard the plane that crashed into the icy Potomac River.

"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.

"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."

- ISU 'heartbroken' -

The Boston club sent 18 skaters to compete in the US championships and 12 to the development camp, Zeghibe said.

The Russian duo, who coached in Boston since 2017, have a 23-year-old son, Maxim Naumov, who won the 2020 US junior men's national title and just finished fourth in the men's event at the US nationals for a third consecutive year.

The International Skating Union (ISU), figure skating's world governing body, said "the global skating community are deeply shocked by the tragic accident."

"We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends, and coaches, are understood to be among those on board. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy."

The disaster revived memories of a February 1961 tragedy involving the US figure skating squad.

The entire 18-member US figure skating team traveling to the world championships in Prague was killed when a plane from New York crashed as it was preparing to land in Brussels. The tragedy prompted the event to be cancelled.

A.Zhang--ThChM