U.S. figure skating team members were aboard plane that crashed near Washington D.C.
Officials believe there are no survivors from the accident
Members of the U.S figure skating team were aboard American Airlines Flight 5342 when it collided with a military helicopter near Washington, D.C, on Wednesday night and plunged into the Potomac River, U.S. Figure Skating has announced.
“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.
"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. We will continue to monitor the situation and will release more information as it becomes available.”
The U.S. Figure Skating Championships took place Jan. 21-26 in Wichita, Kansas.
U.S. Figure Skating did not identify any of the members of its team that were on board.
Doug Zeghibe, the CEO and executive director of the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts, confirmed to NBC News that teenage skaters, Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, and their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han, were aboard the flight along with their coaches, former world champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.
They were in Wichita for National Development Camp, a training for novice skaters not competing in the U.S. championships.
"Skating is a very close and tight knit community. These kids and their parents — they are here at our skating facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven days a week. It is a close, tight bond, and I think for all of us, we have lost family," Zeghibe said.
Zeghibe described Spencer Lane, who he said was 16, as "highly talented, like incredibly talented. Has not been skating that long and just rocketing to the top of the sport." Lane, Zeghibe said, commuted from Providence, Rhode Island, to train at the facility in Boston.
Just before leaving Wichita, Lane posted this video on TikTok:
Of Jinna Han, Zeghibe described her as "a wonderful kid. ... Great athlete, great competitor, loved by all."
Russian state media and the Kremlin also confirmed that the Russian-born Shishkova and Naumov, a married couple who have lived in the U.S. since 1998, were on board.
"This will have long-reaching impacts for our skating community," Zeghibe said. "The [coaches] 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."
The Skating Club of Boston is scheduled to host the World Championships in March at TD Garden.
The commercial flight coming from Wichita was making its approach to Reagan National Airport when it collided with the helicopter around 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday night, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly told reporters that 28 bodies have been recovered. There were 60 passengers and four crew members aboard AA5342, according to American Airlines. The Army said there were three soldiers on the helicopter.
"We are now at a point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. At this point, we don't believe there are any survivors from this accident," Donnelly said.
