‘Loved by all': Jinna and Jin Han mourned by Boston skating community after plane crash
The 13-year-old was known around the Skating Club of Boston as 'just a wonderful kid,' chief executive officer Doug Zeghibe said Thursday. " . . . a great athlete, great competitor, loved by all."
He spoke less than 24 hours after Han and her mother, Jin, were among six people affiliated with the club who died in a plane crash over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., Wednesday night.
The loss of two skaters, two mothers, and two coaches devastated the renowned club whose alums include Olympians Nancy Kerrigan and Tenley Albright.
Her mother, Jin, was 'one of the most wonderful, pleasant, polite, smiling — just fantastic, fantastic members of the club,' Zeghibe recalled. 'Never a discouraging word, always appreciative, always supportive of not just Jinna, her daughter, but every athlete.'
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The club is a special place where skaters and staff are like family. One young skater took to Instagram to remember Jinna.
'You always supported me and others in their skating journey, and lit up every room you entered,' fellow skater Sasha Streeter wrote.
Jinna was 'an outstanding person, as well as an outstanding skater.'
She and her mother 'made everyone feel so welcome at the club. This is truly a big loss,' Streeter wrote.
According to the club, Jinna, won the gold medal in the 2024 New England Regional Singles Challenge after also winning the top prize in the competition in 2023.
She also competed in the novice women free skate single category for the club, including at the US Figure Skating 2025 Eastern Sectional held here. She finished second in the short program.
Such achievement requires a demanding training schedule, but Jinna 'could handle it,' said Adam Blake, one of the club's choreographers.
'She was a hard worker, and she was passionate,' Blake said. 'She really loved the sport, loved everything about it.'
Tashema Lindsey-Wright, 48, said her 17-year-old daughter, London, quickly became close friends with Jinna after Lindsey-Wright moved her family to Boston two years ago from Atlanta, specifically so her two daughters could join the Skating Club of Boston.
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Jinna Han, right, poses for a photo with friend and fellow skater London Wright.
Tashema Lindsey/Tashema Lindsey-Wright
London and Jinna bonded over their passion for the sport, especially during their time preparing for an annual program called Ice Chips, Lindsey-Wright said.
'The club is a very close-knit club. We are all family, because we spend so much of our time there, and everybody knows everybody,' said Lindsey-Wright. 'It's about inspiration and encouragement, and what do I need to do, to do differently and to be able to get to that level.'
Lindsey-Wright described Jinna's mother as 'very warm, very loving, very kind.'
She said the news of the crash has been 'devastating,' especially for London, who told her Jinna was messaging in a group chat they both were in, while she was on the flight.
'London woke up and was like, 'Oh my god, Jinna was on the plane,' and then we realized that quite a few of our members were on the plane, and it just spread within the chat at like, 3, 4, or 5 a.m. this morning,' she said. 'We were devastated. London has been crying all day.'
'There's just no words for that type of loss,' she added.
The Han family lived in Mansfield, where Town Manager Kevin J. Dumas expressed sorrow on behalf of residents and officials Thursday.
'This horrific tragedy has hit home just as the terrible loss to our community during the attack on September 11, 2001,' he wrote in a statement.
Han's family could not be reached for comment on Thursday. Jinna was enrolled at TEC Connections Academy Commonwealth Virtual School, based in East Walpole.
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Spencer Lane, another skater enrolled at the academy, also died in the crash. The superintendent issued a statement saying, 'Our entire school community is deeply saddened' by the students' deaths.
The Han family lived in a quiet, residential complex in Mansfield. Debbie Herrera lives down the hall from the family and said they were friendly, often saying 'hi' in the hall or outside in the parking lot.
The Hans could often be seen shuffling in and out of the building carrying Jinna's ice skating gear. The family, she said, left her with the impression that 'they were on a mission' to achieve something great.
'They were always just a nice family,' she said. 'Why them? Why anybody?'
Shannon Larson can be reached at
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