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D.C. plane crash victims honored at World Figure Skating Championships
Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu were among the speakers at the tribute and remembrance ceremony.
The World Figure Skating Championships held a tribute and remembrance Wednesday for the members of the skating community — including six from the Skating Club of Boston — who died in a plane crash in Washington, D.C. in January.
“Their spirit remains in every edge traced on this ice, in every moment of triumph, and in every heart that beats for this sport,” said Ben Agosto, American ice dancer and 2006 Olympian who hosted the ceremony.
Twenty-eight figure skaters, coaches, and family members died in the accident, as they were all traveling from a national development camp that followed the the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
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The Skating Club of Boston victims were skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han; their mothers Christine Lane and Jin Han; and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, a couple who won gold in pairs at the 1994 World Championships.
Tuesday’s tribute featured several key figures in the international and local skating community, as well as Governor Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu, both of whom led the ceremony with their speeches.
“While they may not be here in person, in body, their spirit, their passion, their love for the sport, the relationships they built and the memories they made will never fade. They remain a part of the skating family from Norwood to TD Garden and beyond at ice rinks all across the state,” Healey said. “… As we begin, remember that in moments of loss, we also find unity. In grief, we find strength, and in remembrance, we find hope.”
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The victims’ names were brightly lit on the ice rink boards as video montages played between speeches.
“I know the members of the Skating Club of Boston are competing tonight, and I know they know they won’t be skating for themselves,” Wu said. “They’ll be carrying their teammates in their hearts.”
The ceremony ended with a live choir performance and words of hope from Doug Lane who lost both his son and wife in the crash. Lane asked the audience to remember the lives lost and called for increased safety measures.
“The final hope I’ll share today is that we can prevent something like this from ever happening again.”
The U.S. figure skating community is “a small world and such a small sport,” U.S. ice dancer Michael Parsons told Boston.com. He and dance partner Caroline Green described how they’ve supported each other during this time.
“I think community and being able to be here and be together and to see so many of our friends and just go through that loss together, there’s a lot of healing that’s able to take place,” Green said. “We’re just very lucky that we get to cope with this loss as a group.”
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See more photos from the 2025 World Figure Skating Championships.
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