Plane crash kills world champion figure skaters and the ‘future’ of the sport in a tragic case of déj vu
Once again, figure skaters representing the past, present and future of the sport perished in a catastrophic plane crash – devastating a global community far too familiar with tragedy.
A passenger jet and a Blackhawk helicopter collided in midair on approach to Reagan National Airport on the evening of Jan. 29.
(CNN) — Once again, figure skaters representing the past, present and future of the sport perished in a catastrophic plane crash – devastating a global community far too familiar with tragedy.
No one survived the midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a Black Hawk military helicopter Wednesday night, authorities said.
“U.S. 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, D.C.,” read a statement from the organization, America’s governing body for figure skating.
“These athletes, coaches, and family members were returning home from the National Development Camp held in conjunction with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas. We are devastated by this unspeakable tragedy and hold the victims’ families closely in our hearts.”
A married pair of skating champions, two young skaters and their mothers were among those killed in the plane crash, the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday. US Figure Skating has not yet confirmed the total number of skaters killed.
The multigenerational loss evoked painful memories of the 1961 plane crash that killed 73 people – including all 18 members of the US figure skating team headed to the world figure skating championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. That disaster killed not just elite athletes but also their coaches, leaving seismic voids in US figure skating for generations to come.
World champions and parents of an elite skater perish in the crash
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov broke the mold of serious, stoic Russian pairs teams and won legions of fans worldwide. Their cheerful, tongue-in-cheek performance won the 1994 world championships.
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, shown at the 1994 Winter Olympics, won the 1994 world figure skating championships. They moved from Russia and coached athletes in Boston, including their son. (Photo credit: Chris Cole/AllSport/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
Like many top Russian skaters in the 1990s, Shishkova and Naumov moved to the US, became coaches, and had a child who later competed for Team USA. Their son, 23-year-old Maxim Naumov, just won fourth place at the US figure skating championships last weekend.
Shishkova, Naumov and their son represented the Skating Club of Boston, which also lost several other members in the crash.
Maxim Naumov competes in the 2025 US figure skating championships. His parents were his longtime coaches. (Photo credit: Adam Cairns/The Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Sports via Reuters via CNN Newsource)
The tragedy will have a profound impact on the world figure skating championships in March, which will take place in Boston.
2 young athletes were among ‘US figure skating’s future’
Skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, along with their mothers Jin Han and Christine Lane, were also killed in the crash, the Skating Club of Boston said.
Jinna Han passed US Figure Skating’s highest-level skills test with honors in 2023. Spencer Lane won this season’s Eastern Sectional competition in the intermediate division.
Young skaters attended the National Development Camp after the US championships last weekend to work with coaches and top skaters, CNN sports analyst Christine Brennan said.
“So this is US figure skating’s future,” Brennan said. “This would be the young teenagers who we would expect to see bubble to the surface, rise up and compete moving forward, even to the 2030 Winter Olympic Games.”
The horrors of 1961 strike again
All members of the 1961 US figure skating team headed to the world championships in Prague perished when Sabena Flight 548 crashed in Belgium. The cause of the disaster was never confirmed. (Photo credit: AP/British Movietone via CNN Newsource)
Skaters and coaches still talk about the disaster that killed the entire 1961 US world team.
The talent included US ice dance champions Diane Carol Sherbloom and Larry Pierce; Olympic pairs skaters Maribel Yerxa Owen and Dudley Shaw Richards; and Owen’s mother, renowned coach Maribel Yerxa Vinson-Owen.
All members of the US delegation to the 1961 world figure skating championships were killed when their plane crashed in Belgium. Laurence Owen, the 16-year-old nicknamed "America's Queen of the Ice," is holding the sign. (Photo credit: Bettmann Archive/Getty Images via CNN Newsource)
In honor of those victims, US Figure Skating established a memorial fund that has given “more than $20 million in financial support to thousands of athletes for skating-related and academic expenses,” according to the group’s website.
Now, “this sport is dealing with another tragedy of this magnitude involving air travel,” Brennan said.
And again, the calamity severed the dreams of young athletes “and their hopes and their dreams to represent the United States in international competition and the Olympics.”
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