Skating Club of Boston to Honor D.C. Plane Crash Victims

Six months following the deaths of six members of the Skating Club of Boston in a plane crash near Washington, D.C., the club has announced its plans to honor the victims of this tragedy.

Coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, and parents Jin Han and Christine Lane died when an American Airlines flight crashed into a military helicopter on the plane's final approach toward Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 29.

Han and Lane trained at the West Rink, while Shishkova and Naumov led a “Tomorrow's Champions” developmental program at the rink.

The club's “Always Champions” campaign will involve renaming its West Rink the “Always Champions Training Rink.” The rink will include a tribute wall with stories and photos of each of the six victims.

The Skating Club of Boston will also install three benches — one for each of the three families — outside the facility's main entrance, in addition to bronzed skates of the two coaches and two skaters. Two scholarships and four annual awards will be created to honor the victims.

“We developed this campaign to honor the memories of these six individuals and to ensure that their personal legacies will forever be a part of the Club's legacy,” said Doug Zeghibe, the club's CEO and executive director, in a statement shared with the Boston Globe. “Their commitment to the sport and spirit of excellence will continue to inspire today's and future generations of our community. For all of us, they are Always Champions who will never be forgotten.”

Watch the club's campaign video below: