An estimated 14 of the 60 passengers on board the American Airlines flight were skaters, coaches or their family members, according to the Skating Club of Boston, an elite training organization that sent numerous skaters to the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
"Skating is a very close and tight-knit community. These kids and their parents, they're here at our facility in Norwood six, sometimes seven days a week. It's a close, tight bond. And I think for all of us, we have lost family," said Doug Zeghibe, CEO of the Skating Club of Boston, who held a news conference early Thursday.
Some of those on Wednesday's flight were in attendance at the development camp, including two young skaters with the Boston club: Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, both teenagers who were traveling back to Boston with their mothers.
On his Instagram on Wednesday afternoon, Lane posted a photo taken from his seat on the airplane, looking out the window as it appeared to taxi toward takeoff.
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