A pair of 16-year-old skaters, their mothers, and two Russian coaches were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening, the group’s skating club in Boston says.
They were named as teenagers Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, their mothers Christine Lane and Jin Han, and their Russian coaches Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov – who are former world-champion skaters.
US officials say they do not expect any survivors from the crash, and that at least 28 bodies have been recovered from scene.
The plane was carrying 64 passengers and crew when it collided in mid-air with a US Army helicopter just after 21:00 local time on Wednesday (02:00 GMT).
It then fell into the ice-cold Potomac River.
As many as 15 people on the flight may have been involved in figure skating in total, an unnamed source told the Reuters news agency.
“Several” athletes, coaches and family members involved with US Figure Skating were on the flight, the sport’s US governing body said. It is yet to give more names.
Giving details of the club’s victims, the CEO of the Figure Skating Club of Boston, Doug Zeghibe, told reporters: “Six is a horrific number for us.” He went on to say: “This will have long, reaching impacts for our skating community.”
In a statement, the Philadelphia Skating Club and Humane Society wrote it was “devastated” to learn of the crash, adding that “beloved members of the club” were among those who had died.
Earlier on Thursday, Russia confirmed that some of its citizens had been on the plane, after Russia media reported the names of Naumov and Shishkova.
In its own statement, US Figure Skating said “several members of our skating community were sadly aboard American Airlines Flight 5342”. The group were returning home from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, the statement added.
Wichita hosted the US National Figure Skating championships from 20 January to 26 January. Following the competition, there was a development camp for young skaters.
Shishkova and Naumov are retired Russian pairs skaters who won the world championships in 1994. They also competed at the Olympics, and later went on to begin their coaching career in the US.
Inna Volyanskaya, a former skater for the Soviet Union, was also on board the flight, according to Russian news agency Tass.
Rescue teams are continuing to search the freezing waters of the Potomac River where the remnants of both aircraft remain. On Thursday morning, officials said they had switched to a recovery operation.
Nearby Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport grounded all flights in the wake of Wednesday evening’s crash.
Besides the undisclosed total number of skaters, limited information has emerged about the individuals on board.
In 1961, the 18-person US figure skating team was killed in a plane crash in Belgium on their way to Prague.
