Close-knit Massachusetts figure skating community supporting each other after deadly plane crash
LEXINGTON - The figure skating community in Massachusetts is lending support to each other after a plane crash near Washington, D.C. left six members of their community dead.
Figure skaters knew each other
Earlier this month WBZ-TV introduced viewers to Simon Mintz and Annie Huang. The pair of figure skating teens were bound for the U.S. Nationals in Wichita. Those who don't qualify can go to an elite camp that follows the competition. It's the same event that skaters were flying back from when their plane crashed into a military helicopter near Washington, D.C. No one survived.
WBZ-TV spoke with Mintz's parents. They said had their son not qualified for the U.S. Nationals, he mostly likely would have been at the camp and possibly returning home on that flight. The notion has been on their minds.
"It's eerie," said Simon's mother Linda Wertheimer Mintz.
"We flew through Dallas, not D.C., but we just as easily could have gone through D.C.," added Pavlik Mintz, Simon's father.
They returned to Massachusetts last week, yet all day Thursday, the Mintzes have fielded texts and messages from people concerned they too were on the flight.
"It could have been us if they went to the camp this year instead of the championships," said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, adding that Simon has been at the camp before, "We definitely knew both of the young skaters who were killed, not as great friends, but we knew them. And totally knew about Maxim Naumov's parents. Over the years, we've certainly seen them around said, 'Hi,' to them."
A second family
The parents of skater Maxim Naumov were Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, two coaches killed on the flight. Also in the crash were skaters Spencer Lane and Jinna Han, along with their mothers.
"I remember going to the Edge in Bedford with my son for a skating lesson, and Maxim was practicing with his dad," said Linda Wertheimer Mintz.
Simon and Annie recently were at a U.S. Nationals send off party at the Skating Club of Boston. They said Lane and Han were in attendance.
"The kids in particular would have been there sitting right near Simon and his partner," said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, "When your kid becomes a skater, it's like you all of a sudden have a second family."
She has been messaging with other skate parents who have been trying to lend support to those who knew the families.
"I talked to one mom whose kid knew the kids, and they were heading out to be with their coaches," said Linda Wertheimer Mintz, "It's not just about being a tight community, this was the past, the present, and the future of U.S. figure skating that was on that plane too."