Watch: Tara Lipinski, Nancy Kerrigan, others react to figure skating tragedy

News of the plane crash that claimed the lives of 67 people Wednesday night near Washington, D.C. hit close to home for Nancy Kerrigan.

Kerrigan, the former U.S. figure skating champion, is an alumna of the Skating Club of Boston. Several youth skaters and coaches from the club were flying home from a National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas when an Army helicopter struck American Airlines flight 5342 en route to Ronald Reagan Airport, killing everyone aboard both aircraft.

Figure skater Spencer Lane, 16, and his mother, Christine Lane; skater Jinna Han, 13, of Mansfield, Massachusetts, and her mother, Jin Han; and coaches Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov all lost their lives in the crash.

"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," Kerrigan said Thursday. "When you find out you know some of the people on the plane, it's even a bigger blow."

Former Olympic gold medal-winning skater Tara Lipinski, who is broadcasting the European Figure Skating Championships this week on E! and Peacock, was audibly distraught on Thursday's broadcast.

"My heart is completely broken for our skating community, their families and loved ones," Lipinski said. "My heart is with all the families affected and that's the part I have no words for. It will not do it justice. It is so widespread throughout our skating community, and we are such a close-knit family. And I know our skating community will never be the same, but we will always remember them."

"As we come on the air for the European Figure Skating Championships, we are all hurting today," former U.S. figure skating champion Johnny Weir said in his introductory marks on the broadcast. "We were absolutely heartbroken by the news that several members of our skating community were among those lost in the tragic plane crash in Washington D.C. last night."

"There are no words," former Olympic gold medalist and longtime figure skating commentator Scott Hamilton wrote on Twitter/X. "Nothing that can truly represent the devastation caused by the plane crash in Washington DC last night. A tragedy that claimed the lives of skaters, coaches, parents and officials. My heart is shattered for our skating community. Please pray for the families!"

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