Mass. figure skater opens up about losing parents in D.C. plane crash

Max Naumov’s parents were among the six people with ties to the Skating Club of Boston, who were killed in January when a helicopter collided with the plane they were on over Washington D.C.This weekend, Naumov is making his first public performances at his home rink to honor everyone lost in the tragic crash.”I am incredibly honored to be part of the Starts on Ice tour, which is coming through Boston,” Naumov said.Naumov said he feels the most comfortable and the most connected to his parents, when he is on the ice.”It’s a form of therapy for me right now,” Naumov said. “Every day is different, it’s helping me right now.”His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were former figure skating champions turned coaches, inspiring countless young figure skaters, including their son.”Being able to think of them brings positive memories,” Naumov said. “I use that positive energy to carry me through.”Just weeks after the mid-air crash that claimed his parents and four others with ties to the Skating Club of Boston, Naumov honored them in an emotional performance in Washington D.C.”When I finished that program, a layer just shed,” Naumov said. “Tears flowed, thinking of them a lot.”This weekend will be the first time he’s performed on his home rink since the tragedy, a performance he said will be inspired by his parents.”It’s always been meaningful to skate and to create,” Naumov said. “It’s a lot more meaningful now for sure.”Naumov is also carrying on his parents’ legacy of coaching, focusing on young skaters with dreams of becoming stars.”All I can do is do exaclty what they were doing,” Naumov said. I enjoy it, it is amazing what they did. I couldn’t be more proud to be able to do that.”Naumov’s parents, who lived in Norwood, won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice.The crash in January occurred when a U.S. army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 as it was approaching Ronald Reagan Airport, with the collision causing a fiery explosion in the night sky before both aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River below.In total, the crash killed all three service members aboard the helicopter and all 60 passengers and crew members aboard the plane.In addition to Naumov’s parents, skater Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine Lane, 49, skater Jinna Han, 13, and her mother, Jin Han, were aboard the plane and returning home to New England from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, when the crash occurred.Additionally, two Boston-area law grads and a financial professional from Massachusetts were among the victims of the crash.Video: Two Norwood coaches, world champs killed in DC crash”(Naumov and Shishkova) just had a really profound impact on the club,” Adam Blake said, a choreographer with the Skating Club of Boston. “Not only that, they were just really, really wonderful people.”Described as incredibly nice and generous, the couple also pushed their students to be the best.”With as much work they put in as athletes to become world champions, they put in just as much work to inspire young athletes of the future,” Blake said.Video: ‘I’m not sure how to process it,’ tearful Nancy Kerrigan saysThe Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash happened at 8:48 p.m. when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita collided with the military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway.During a morning news conference, officials said they have moved from a rescue operation to a recovery operation, as they believe no one survived the crash.It’s not the first time tragedy has struck the Skating Club.In 1961, a flight carrying 18 members of the U.S. figure skating team to compete in the world championships in Prague crashed as it was trying to land in Brussels. All 73 people aboard the plane died, including 16-year-old Laurence Owen, of Winchester, Massachusetts, known as “America’s Queen of the Ice.””Almost half of everyone aboard that plane were from (the Skating Club),” Doug Zeghibe said, the CEO and executive director of the Skating Club of Boston. “It had long-reaching implications for the Skating Club and for the sport in this country, because when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport, as well.”
Max Naumov’s parents were among the six people with ties to the Skating Club of Boston, who were killed in January when a helicopter collided with the plane they were on over Washington D.C.
This weekend, Naumov is making his first public performances at his home rink to honor everyone lost in the tragic crash.
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“I am incredibly honored to be part of the Starts on Ice tour, which is coming through Boston,” Naumov said.
Naumov said he feels the most comfortable and the most connected to his parents, when he is on the ice.
“It’s a form of therapy for me right now,” Naumov said. “Every day is different, it’s helping me right now.”
His parents, Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were former figure skating champions turned coaches, inspiring countless young figure skaters, including their son.
“Being able to think of them brings positive memories,” Naumov said. “I use that positive energy to carry me through.”
Just weeks after the mid-air crash that claimed his parents and four others with ties to the Skating Club of Boston, Naumov honored them in an emotional performance in Washington D.C.
“When I finished that program, a layer just shed,” Naumov said. “Tears flowed, thinking of them a lot.”
This weekend will be the first time he’s performed on his home rink since the tragedy, a performance he said will be inspired by his parents.
“It’s always been meaningful to skate and to create,” Naumov said. “It’s a lot more meaningful now for sure.”
Naumov is also carrying on his parents’ legacy of coaching, focusing on young skaters with dreams of becoming stars.
“All I can do is do exaclty what they were doing,” Naumov said. I enjoy it, it is amazing what they did. I couldn’t be more proud to be able to do that.”
Naumov’s parents, who lived in Norwood, won the pairs title at the 1994 World Championships and competed at the Winter Olympics twice.
The crash in January occurred when a U.S. army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 as it was approaching Ronald Reagan Airport, with the collision causing a fiery explosion in the night sky before both aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River below.
In total, the crash killed all three service members aboard the helicopter and all 60 passengers and crew members aboard the plane.
In addition to Naumov’s parents, skater Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine Lane, 49, skater Jinna Han, 13, and her mother, Jin Han, were aboard the plane and returning home to New England from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, when the crash occurred.
Additionally, two Boston-area law grads and a financial professional from Massachusetts were among the victims of the crash.
Video: Two Norwood coaches, world champs killed in DC crash
“(Naumov and Shishkova) just had a really profound impact on the club,” Adam Blake said, a choreographer with the Skating Club of Boston. “Not only that, they were just really, really wonderful people.”
Described as incredibly nice and generous, the couple also pushed their students to be the best.
“With as much work they put in as athletes to become world champions, they put in just as much work to inspire young athletes of the future,” Blake said.
Video: ‘I’m not sure how to process it,’ tearful Nancy Kerrigan says
The Federal Aviation Administration said the midair crash happened at 8:48 p.m. when a regional jet that had departed from Wichita collided with the military helicopter on a training flight while on approach to an airport runway.
During a morning news conference, officials said they have moved from a rescue operation to a recovery operation, as they believe no one survived the crash.
It’s not the first time tragedy has struck the Skating Club.
In 1961, a flight carrying 18 members of the U.S. figure skating team to compete in the world championships in Prague crashed as it was trying to land in Brussels. All 73 people aboard the plane died, including 16-year-old Laurence Owen, of Winchester, Massachusetts, known as “America’s Queen of the Ice.”
“Almost half of everyone aboard that plane were from (the Skating Club),” Doug Zeghibe said, the CEO and executive director of the Skating Club of Boston. “It had long-reaching implications for the Skating Club and for the sport in this country, because when you lose coaches like this, you lose the future of the sport, as well.”