Olympian Scott Hamilton paid a tearful tribute to the skaters, coaches and family members who died in the midair collision in Washington, D.C., earlier this week.
“To think that they’re gone, I can’t wrap my head around the last 36 hours,” the Olympic medalist said on TODAY on Friday, Jan. 31. “It’s just been devastating and the loss is just beyond description, and my heart is shattered.”
Several teenage figure skaters, as well as some of their mothers and coaches, are presumed dead after American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, collided midair with a Black Hawk Army helicopter the evening of Jan. 29 above the Potomac River.
The skaters had been on their way home from a training camp following the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships.
Hamilton called the tragedy “overwhelming.”
“My phone has just blown up, and it’s beyond the skating community. I think so many people see this tragedy and the loss of these brilliant young skaters that have poured their lives into building an identity in our sport, and for their lives to be taken …” he said, growing emotional.
“For this to happen just days after those championships to happen, devastating, shocking, doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
He also paid tribute to the two Russian coaches who died, married couple Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, calling them "wonderful" and "kind."
"When you are in skating, there are no national boundaries," he said. "We all have a shared experience.”
Hamilton also mourned the death of “the greatest skater of all time,” Dick Button.
Button, an American figure skater and two-time Olympic champion, died at 95 on Jan. 30.
“It’s just been beyond anything I can handle, honestly,” Hamilton said.
All 60 passengers and four crew members on board the American Eagle flight, as well as the three passengers who were on board the Army chopper, are presumed to have died in the accident, authorities say.
Among the figure skaters who died were Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, both 16, and their mothers, Christine Lane and Jin Han.
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