Figure skater's dad describes agony of losing wife and son in D.C. plane crash
Doug Lane speaks out about the loss of his wife and son in the plane crash over the Potomac River in D.C.
How do you tell your 12-year-old son that his mother and older brother most likely died in a plane crash?
That was the question facing Douglas Lane on the evening of Jan. 29 as his cellphone was filling up with alerts about an American Eagle plane colliding with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River, a plane that he knew his wife, Christine Lane, and son Spencer Lane were aboard.
“I looked at Milo, I didn’t really know what to tell him,” Lane, who lives in Rhode Island, told NBC News in his first interview since the tragedy. “In my gut, I knew what the outcome was. But I didn’t want to say that they were gone until I knew they were gone.”
Tune in to “Legacy on Ice,” a figure skating tribute to support the families and loved ones affected by this tragedy. Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Peacock.
“I had to really kind of word it very carefully so that he would still have some hope, but I also didn’t want to create false hope,” Lane said.
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