Wichita (Kansas, USA), Jan. 31 (LaPresse/AP) – Among the victims of the plane crash in Washington involving an American Airlines aircraft and a U.S. Army helicopter were teenage figure skaters returning from a national gathering with their mothers and coaches, a university student from Ohio coming back from her grandfather's funeral, two Chinese citizens, and a group of friends returning from a hunting trip in Kansas.
They were among the 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the commercial flight that collided with the Black Hawk helicopter, which was carrying three military personnel. The search for 14 missing persons continues in the waters of the Potomac River in Washington.
Among the victims were skaters Jinna Han and Spencer Lane, along with their mothers, Jin Han and Christine Lane, and their coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov. Han and Lane, both 16, were returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships. Their coaches, Shishkova and Naumov, won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships in Chiba, Japan. The two Russian citizens had also competed twice in the Olympics.
In Loudoun County, Virginia, a skating club coach was identified as one of the passengers. Cedarville University in Ohio confirmed that one of the plane’s passengers was Grace Maxwell, a mechanical engineering senior. She was returning to campus from her home in Wichita, Kansas, after attending her grandfather’s funeral.
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