What we know about the figure skaters who were on the airplane that crashed in Washington, D.C.

New York Times

30-01-2025

They were returning home from a camp for young figure skaters identified as having promise.
The skaters who were aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River were traveling back from Wichita, Kan., where they attended a national development camp held after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships the previous weekend. The camp was for skaters in the junior, intermediate and novice divisions, in the pipeline for future roles on the senior team.
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Officials said Thursday they believed there were no survivors among the 64 people on the plane and three in the helicopter.
Six of the passengers on the plane were associated with The Skating Club of Boston, according to club CEO Doug Zeghibe: Two coaches, two teenage skaters and the athletes' parents. U.S. Figure Skating confirmed Thursday that 'several members of our skating community' were on the flight, but others have not been identified.
Here's what we know about the victims and their ties to the figure-skating community.
Lane, 16, trained out of The Skating Club of Boston, which is located in a Boston suburb. He posted frequently to his Instagram account, including videos from this week's development camp.
He qualified for the camp in November when he topped the intermediate field at the Eastern sectionals meet.
'When I started this season, I had what seemed like a very ambitious goal of making Top 4 at Sectionals,' he wrote on Instagram, 'and I am so happy and blown away to end my first competitive season at the top of the Eastern Sectionals podium!'
His mother, Christine, was also on the flight, Zeghibe told reporters. He said the Lanes lived outside of Providence, R.I., and 'spent a lot of time commuting' to the club's facility in Norwood, Mass. He called Lane a 'young phenom.'
'Spencer, in the best way possible, was a crazy kid. Highly talented, like incredibly talented,' Zeghibe said. 'Has not been skating that long and just rocketing to the top of the sport. Very fun, very cerebral, a good thinker.'
Douglas Lane, Spencer's father, told Providence television station WPRI that Spencer was adopted from South Korea. He said Lane saw U.S. figure skater Nathan Chen compete in the 2022 Olympics and 'decided, 'Hey, I could do that.'' Spencer Lane attended high school online and 'went up to Boston every single day' to train, Douglas Lane said.
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'It wasn't anyone pushing him,' he said. 'He was just somebody who loved it and had natural talent but just worked every day.'
Douglas Lane said his wife, Christine, was a 'beautiful, creative person' with 'many different talents,' including graphic design and photography.
'Just a wonderful, caring person,' he said.
Han reached the development camp after finishing fourth in the novice competition at Eastern sectionals in November.
'Jinna, just a wonderful kid,' Zeghibe said. 'Wonderful parents. Great athlete, great competitor, loved by all.'
Her mother, Jin, was also on the flight, Zeghibe said.
'The Han family has been with us for a while, certainly since we opened this facility in September of 2020,' he said. And they are definitely a member of our family.'
The Russian-born Shishkova, 52, and Naumov, 55, won pairs gold at the 1994 world championships. They also competed in the Olympics twice, taking fifth in Albertville, France, in 1992 and fourth in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994.
They married in 1995 and relocated to the U.S. in 1998 and coached at The Skating Club of Boston.
'They came to us in 2017 and were very much a part of our building the competitive skating program here at the Skating Club of Boston,' Zeghibe said.
Their son, Maxim Naumov, who was not on the flight, competes in figure skating for the United States. He finished fourth in the senior competition at U.S. nationals last weekend.
Elena Prudsky, a former pairs skater from Russia who now lives in Houston, was a friend of Shiskova since childhood. They were youth figure skaters, and Prudsky said it was 'clear at (a) young age she would be great.'
Prudsky last spoke with Shiskova in December on Shiskova's birthday. She spent Thursday reminiscing about Shiskova and Vadim Naumov.
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'They were down to earth; when they'd come to visit in Houston, we'd go to (the) ice rink and they were not recognized — they loved that, because in Russia, when you are a champion figure skaters, you have great recognition,' Prudsky said.
'I am in shock. It seems this isn't real that they are gone. To me she was not the skating legend, she was my oldest friend.'
This story will be updated.
— Rob Rossi contributed reporting.
(Photo of Shishkova and Naumov: Chris Cole / ALLSPORT via Getty Images)