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Boston Globe
31-01-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
‘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.' Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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. Advertisement 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
Boston Globe
30-01-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
What we know about the six crash victims with ties to Skating Club of Boston
Spencer Lane was a growing presence in social media on Tik Tok and Instagram where he documented his growth as a competitive ice skater, a sport he started participating in just three years ago, according to his father, Douglas Lane. Advertisement 'He just had amazing athletic abilities,' Douglas Lane said of his son. 'You couldn't make him do something, but if he was like, 'Hey, that's interesting to me,' you couldn't stop him. And figure skating is, I think, the best example of that.' He placed first in November's regional championships in the intermediate men category. Like Jinna Han and the other young skaters chosen to attend the training camp, Lane was considered a potential rising star in the highly competitive sport. Spencer's interest in skating had been inspired by watching Nathan Chen at the Olympics. He was attending high school on line so he could devote as much time as possible to training at the Norwood rink five days a week, his father said. Lane was 'in the best way possible ... a crazy kid,' said Zeghibe with a smile. Despite not skating for long, Lane was 'highly talented, like incredibly talented' and 'just rocketing' to the top of the sport. Lane also posted a video showing Flight 5342 as it departed Wichita's Eisenhower Airport Wednesday. Christine Lane often shuttled her son from the family's home in Barrington, R.I. to the Norwood ice rink. Christine and her husband, Douglas, had adopted Spencer from South Korea where he was born. Lane, 49, was the mother of two and had recently obtained a real estate license. She was recently hired as a sales associate for Residential Properties, a Providence-based real estate firm. Advertisement 'We are shocked and deeply saddened to learn about the tragic news of the accident involving Christine Lane,' Ian Barnacle, Barrington sales manager, said in a statement to the Globe. 'She quickly became a cherished member of our team. Douglas Lane described his wife as a 'creative powerhouse,' who studied visual design at Syracuse University. She went on to a career in graphic design for years before chasing other creative pursuits. 'She was an outstanding quilter, and spent a lot of time sewing and quilting, volunteered at the local animal rescue in Rhode Island, working with people to place pets into adoptive homes, and recently, just got her real estate license and joined Residential Properties here in Barrington, as a sales agent, was very excited about that new chapter,' he said. Early in their relationship they decided they wanted to grow their family through adoption. 'It was, you know, a different journey into motherhood, but one that she really embraced and loved,' Lane said. 'She just gave parenting her all and was really good at it.' Jinna Han competed in the novice women free skate single category for the club including at the US Figure Skating 2025 Eastern Sectional held in Norwood. She finished second in the short program. She finished Han was 'just a wonderful kid,' said Zeghibe, recalling her as a 'great athlete, great competitor, loved by all.' Jin Han, Jinna's mother and strong supporter of other skaters at the club. Advertisement She was 'one of the most wonderful, pleasant, polite, smiling — just fantastic, fantastic member of the club,' Zeghibe recalled. 'Never a discouraging word, always appreciative, always supportive of not just Jinna, her daughter, but every athlete.' The Han family were residents of Mansfield where Town Manager Kevin J. Dumas expressed sorrow on behalf of residents and town officials. '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. A neighbor, Debbie Herrera, described the family as friendly, always willing to say 'hi' in the hall or outside in the parking lot. The Han could often been 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. 'They were always just a nice family,' she said. 'Why them? Why anybody?' , were originally from Russia where they represented that country in the 1994 Olympics, the couple were veteran coaches in multiple skating styles. Their son, Maxim Naumov, was competing at the US Championships in Kansas in the senior men's event. He placed fourth and traveled home Sunday before his parents. 'My heart breaks for my skating family today and my thoughts and prayers go out to all those impacted by this horrible tragedy,' Advertisement John R. Ellement of the Globe Staff contributed to this report. (Information from Globe reporting was used in this account.) Travis Andersen can be reached at
