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2 New England teens and their mothers killed in Reagan Airport plane collision

Two New England mothers and their children were among the 67 victims killed in the midair collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines flight over Ronald Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

Jin Han, her 13-year-old daughter Jinna, Christine Lane and her 16-year-old son Spencer Lane were four of the six with ties to the Skating Club of Boston who were killed in the crash.

The families and two coaches, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, were flying with other skaters to Washington DC from Washington from Wichita, Kansas after a US Skating National Development Camp and Championship Competition.

The two were called the “future of the sport” by their fellow skaters at the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood Thursday.

“The kids here really work hard, their parents work hard to be here. But I just, I feel for the athletes, the skaters, and their families but anyone who was on that plane, not just the skaters, because it’s such a tragic event,” skating legend Nancy Kerrigan said.

Jinna seen here in a video posted by us skating … was an up incoming skater nationally … with her mother and father by her side …

Debbie Herrera has lived next door to the Hans since she moved to Bonny Lane in Mansfield about 10 years ago.

“They were always together the mother daughter and father,” Herrera detailed. “They looked like such happy people.”

In a statement, the Lane family shared they were devasted by the losses of Christine and Spencer.

“Christine exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting, and more. She brought even greater passion to her role as a mother to Spencer and his brother Milo. She was also a lover of animals, and we lost track of how many dogs she helped place in loving adoptive homes,” the statement read. “Spencer can only be described as a force of nature. You simply could not stop him if he decided he wanted to do something. There is no better example of this than his remarkable skating journey, which we are heartbroken to see end too soon. He truly loved it, and his ascent from basic Learn to Skate classes to U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Team in just a few short years was unprecedented. We are so grateful that his last week was filled with joy and surrounded by his beloved Skating Club of Boston and the U.S. Figure Skating family.”

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the jet late Wednesday while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport near Washington, officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew. Three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.

The plane was found upside-down in three sections in waist-deep water, and first responders were searching an area of the Potomac as far south as the Woodrow Wilson Bridge, roughly 3 miles (4.8 kilometers) south of the airport, Donnelly said. The helicopter wreckage was also found. Images from the river showed boats around the partly submerged wing and the mangled wreckage of the plane’s fuselage.

The collision is the deadliest U.S. air crash since 2001.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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