Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
Available On Air Stations

Boston ice skating club reeling after several members killed in D.C.-area plane crash

A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:

The aftermath of Wednesday night's midair collision. Authorities have recovered the cockpit voice and flight data recorders from the passenger jet that sank into the Potomac River after an Army helicopter crashed into it. At a media briefing yesterday, National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy said investigators will investigate, not speculate.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JENNIFER HOMENDY: You need to give us time. We need to verify information to make sure it is accurate. That's best for you. That's important for the families. It's important for legislators who are seeking answers.

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Meanwhile, the rescue operation turned into a recovery operation. The jet's 60 passengers included young figure skaters, their parents and coaches. Two athletes and two coaches came from one of the oldest skating clubs in the country in Massachusetts. From member station GBH, Craig LeMoult has this report.

CRAIG LEMOULT, BYLINE: The ice at The Skating Club of Boston is usually buzzing with activity. But it was silent on Thursday as 1956 Olympic champion Tenley Albright, for whom this rink is named, spoke to reporters.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

TENLEY ALBRIGHT: I really can't believe that it happened.

LEMOULT: Looking at the ice, Albright said she could picture those this club lost.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ALBRIGHT: (Crying) The coaches always stood at that entrance. The skaters just flew all over the ice, doing remarkable things, inspiring all of us.

LEMOULT: Among the victims Wednesday were club members 13-year-old Jinna Han and 16-year-old Spencer Lane. They were on their way home from a training camp for top figure skating prospects, following the U.S. championships in Wichita. Both of their mothers were on the flight, as well. Elin Schran organizes skating events and remembers Lane's reaction after performing in his first professional show with her company.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

ELIN SCHRAN: (Crying) He came to me and - smiling ear to ear, saying, I get it now. I understand. He started to discover this connection with the audience and that joy that he was giving to other people through his gift. And he said, please let me skate again with you next year.

LEMOULT: Han was remembered by other skaters for her bright smile, high-pitched voice and ability to make jumps beyond what seemed possible for a 13-year-old. Misha Mitrofanov and Alisa Efimova, who just won the U.S. national pairs championship, remember watching the younger skaters on the ice.

MISHA MITROFANOV: The amount that they were able to achieve in such a short amount of time was absolutely remarkable. It was...

ALISA EFIMOVA: It was their progress that made them stand out, personally, for me.

MITROFANOV: Yeah.

EFIMOVA: Every day, improvement.

LEMOULT: Also on the plane were two coaches from The Skating Club Of Boston, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova. They were married and a former world champion pairs team themselves. The club CEO, Doug Zeghibe, says the coaches were strict, but there was more to it than that.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

DOUG ZEGHIBE: They were so kind, but they had high standards. And the combination really worked with their kids because they felt the support, but they also knew where their bar was.

LEMOULT: Their son, Max, is a figure skater who placed fourth at the national championships but was on a different flight home. The skating community is a tight-knit group. And among those gathering to mourn Wednesday was former Olympian Nancy Kerrigan, who trained at this club back when it was in another location. Kerrigan talked about the lessons learned in a sport where you fall a lot.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

NANCY KERRIGAN: You get back up. Keep on trying. And even when it's hard, you get back up. Even when you're crying, hurt, pain, you get back up and move forward. It's not easy, but that's what we all have to do now together.

LEMOULT: The loss is tragically reminiscent of a 1961 plane crash that led to the deaths of the entire U.S. figure skating team. Zeghibe says almost half of the team that died in that incident also had ties to this Massachusetts club. He says it's taken decades for the skating world to recover from that loss, and now there's a new tragedy to face.

For NPR News, I'm Craig LeMoult in Norwood, Massachusetts. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Craig LeMoult
Craig produces sound-rich features and breaking news coverage for WGBH News in Boston. His features have run nationally on NPR's Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition, as well as on PRI's The World and Marketplace. Craig has won a number of national and regional awards for his reporting, including two national Edward R. Murrow awards in 2015, the national Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award feature reporting in 2011, first place awards in 2012 and 2009 from the national Public Radio News Directors Inc. and second place in 2007 from the national Society of Environmental Journalists. Craig is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Tufts University.