Washington plane crash victims: Child ice skating stars tragically killed in plane-chopper crash
The figure skating world is in shock after two children were confirmed as the youngest victims of the tragic Washington DC plane crash.
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The world of champion figure skating is mourning the loss of some of its youngest members, with two child ice skating stars named.
14 members of the US Figure Skating team, their coaches and family, who were on the American Airlines flight that collided mid-air with a military helicopter over Washington DC.
Six members of the US Figure Skating team on the doomed flight were affiliated with the Skating Club of Boston, the club’s CEO and executive director Doug Zeghibe said.
The latest victims named are Angela Yang and Sean Kay, who were killed alongside their coach Alexandr Kirsanov, his wife Natalia Gudin told Delaware News Journal.
“We always use American Airlines when we go to competition,” Ms Gudin said. “This time they go without me, and all of them are gone.”
“This young team – Sean Kay and Angela Yang – they were so amazing. All the judges were so proud and they had such a big future.
“And what, all on the same plane?. For me, it’s a triple loss.”
Skater Spencer Lane, his mother, Christine, skater Jinna Han, and her mother, Jin, and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were all aboard the plane.
“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,” Mr Zeghibe said.
Inna Volyanskaya, a former figure skater who competed for the USSR and now coached in DC, was also reported to have been on board, TASS reported.
“US 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, DC,” US Figure Skating said in a statement.
“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 International Skating Union said in a statement: “We are heartbroken to learn that figure skaters, along with their families, friends and coaches, are understood to be among those on board.
“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this tragedy. Figure skating is more than a sport — it’s a close-knit family — and we stand together.”
The bodies of all three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter have been recovered and sent to Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. They were not immediately identified.
Here is what we know about the victims:
EVGENIA SHISHKOVA, 53, AND VADIM NAUMOV, 56
Former Russian world pairs champions and married couple Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were on the tragic flight.
Shishkova, 53, and Naumov, 56, were returning to DC on Flight 5342 after attending the US Figure Skating Championships in Kansas.
Shishkova and Naumov were born in Leningrad and competed in pairs skating for the USSR and Russia national teams, winning the World Championship in 1994.
They moved to the US in 1998 where they worked as figure skating coaches.
Ludmila Velikova trained Shishkova and Naumov when they were children.
“They were my favourite sports people. They were part of my first attempt at the world championships and became champions in 1994. They were talented and beautiful people,” Velikova said.
Their son, Maxim Naumov, 23, is a prominent Team USA skater, and did not fly with them.
Maxim reportedly left Kansas with US figure skater Anton Spiridonov on Monday, with Spiridonov saying they went through security together.
Shishkova and Naumov’s last words to their son was to tell him they were “proud” of him after he came fourth in the competition just days before the crash.
“We are proud of you, Maxim,” the couple posted on social media, according to a St Petersburg newspaper.
“He climbed to the podium at the Nationals after seventh place in the short program. This beautiful and emotional performance is the result of teamwork. Maxim has earned his place in the team of champions of four continents.”
SPENCER LANE, 16, AND HIS MOTHER CHRISTINE LANE
A teenage rising star in US figure skating circles was among the victims. Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine, both died on the passenger jet.
The teenager posted a photo of the plane’s right wing moments before takeoff.
The post read, “ICT [to] DCA,” showing the airport codes for Wichita Eisenhower and Reagan National.
Lane belonged to the Skating Club of Boston. Club CEO Doug Zeghibe said Lane was “incredibly talented” and “rocketing to the top of the sport”.
Lane and his mother lived in Barrington, Rhode Island. The superintendent of schools said he left Barrington High School in 2023 “to pursue a promising career in figure skating”.
“Our entire Barrington community mourns with the Lane family, the Skating Club of Boston, and all who knew and loved Christine and Spencer Lane. Spencer was a talented and driven young athlete with a bright future, and this is an unimaginable loss,” Superintendent Robert Wargo said in a statement.
JINNA HAN, 13, AND HER MOTHER JIN HAN
Talented teen Jinna Han was also on board the flight with her mother, Jin.
“Jinna, just a wonderful kid. Wonderful parents. Great competitor. Loved by all,” Mr Zeghibe said of the 13-year-old from Massachusetts.
“I don’t think we’re ever going to forget them. That is for certain. How we commemorate them here we haven’t gotten to that point to discuss, but we certainly will. Just definitely very important and well loved members of our community.”
INNA VOLYANSKAYA
Skating coach Inna Volyanskaya was a former skater who competed for the pre-1991 Soviet Union, Russian state media said.
More recently, she was a coach at the Ashburn Ice House in Virginia, the club’s general manager Rob Lorenzen told NBC Washington.
“Inna also had a lot of success internationally achieving gold, silver, and bronze medals in various international competitions,” the club’s website says.
CAPTAIN JONATHAN CAMPOS
Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2015.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University issued the following statement: “Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Captain Jonathan Campos (Aeronautical Science,’15). Our thoughts are with his family and the families and loved ones of all impacted by this tragic accident.”
IAN EPSTEIN
Ian Epstein was one of two flight attendants on board the American Airlines plane, his relatives said.
“It is with a very heavy heart and extreme sadness that myself along with our children Hannah Epstein and Joanna Epstein and his sister Robbie Epstein Bloom her husband Steven Bloom and nieces Andi and Dani inform you that Ian Epstein was one of the flight attendants on American Airlines Flight 5342 that collided last night when they were landing in DC,” his wife Debi Epstein, 58, wrote on Facebook.
“Please pray for Ian and our family as we travel to DC. We will update when plans are made.”
SAM LILLEY, 28
Relatives say one of the American Airlines pilots was Sam Lilley, a 28-year-old First Officer who was engaged to be married. He was also months away from being promoted in his career of flying that he loved.
“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” his father, Tim Lilley, said in a Facebook tribute.
Mr Lilley revealed he is also a former US Army Black Hawk pilot and had flown in the exact same area where the disaster happened.
“In the ’90s, I used to fly in and out of the Pentagon regularly, and I can tell you if you are flying on the route over the Potomac and wearing night vision goggles, it’s going to be very hard to see that plane,” he said.
“If you’re not wearing the goggles, then you might have a chance.”
“Samuel was in the prime of his life. He was engaged to a beautiful, wonderful girl and we were all excited about her joining the family,” he said.
“I saw the crash on the news. I didn’t think there was any way it was my son,” he said.
“But then I watched long enough to figure out it was my son’s airline and then I kind of know his schedule.”
“This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” he told FOX 5 Atlanta.
Campos was born in New York and grew up in Florida. He attended the Epic Flight Academy where he was certified as a flight instructor in 2017.
He became a commercial airline pilot one year later, according to the company records.
DANASIA ELDER
Danasia Elder was one of the American Airlines flight attendants onboard the doomed flight.
She is survived by her husband and two children, Kayden and Dallas.
Elder’s brother-in-law, Brandon Payne, described her as “full of life,” highlighting her love for God, her kids, and travel.
“She was a great wife, a great parent, a great friend,” Payne said.
“She was very bright, very smart. She was an entrepreneur. This flight attendant thing was kind of like one of her dreams she wanted to do.”
RYAN O’HARA
One of the soldiers performing a training flight on the ill-fated Black Hawk helicopter was Ryan O’Hara, a Georgia-bred father of a baby boy and graduate of Parkview High School near Atlanta, according to wsbtv.com.
“Ryan is fondly remembered as a guy who would fix things around the [Reserve Officers’ Training Corps] gym as well as a vital member of the Rifle Team. Ryan leaves behind a wife and 1-year-old son,” the Parkview High School JROTC wrote in a statement.
O’Hara graduated from the high school in 2014 before going on to become an Army reserve officer.
HUSBAND RECEIVES LAST HEARTBREAKING TEXT
A husband revealed that he received a text from his wife minutes before her American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter in Washington, DC.
“I’m just praying that someone is pulling her out of the river right now. That’s all I can pray for,” Hamaad Raza told WUSA from near Reagan National Airport.
Raza was asked when he last spoke to his wife.
“She texted me that they were landing in 20 minutes,” he told the outlet, showing them the messages on his phone. Mr Raza said he realised something was wrong when his replying messages didn’t “get delivered.”
“That’s when I realised something was up,” he said, pointing down at the undelivered messages on his phone’s screen.”
Meanwhile, at Eisenhower National Airport in Wichita, Kansas, a volunteer team was brought in to support the families of victims as word about the accident came in.
“Airport staff did activate our family incident support team last night, so if family members did show up to the terminal to have additional information, even for support, we were there with them with our team of volunteers along with other airline staff and representatives,” airport director Jesse Romo said in a news conference.
American Airlines is also sending support team members to Wichita to assist both families and crew members, Wichita Mayor Lily Wu said.
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Originally published as Washington plane crash victims: Child ice skating stars tragically killed in plane-chopper crash