Chicago area figure skaters mourn friends who died when plane, helicopter collided over D.C.
BUFFALO GROVE, Ill. (CBS) -- The plane that crashed into the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. after colliding in midair with a Black Hawk helicopter Wednesday night was transporting some passengers returning home from a development camp held in connection with the U.S. Figure Skating championships.
The tragedy has had a massive impact on Chicago's figure skating community.
The first thing Chicago area figure skaters said Thursday was that they were in shock. The athletes are all in group chats and follow each other on social media, so it didn't take long to figure out that American Eagle Flight No. 5342 was carrying their friends home from the event they all attended in Wichita, Kansas.
"Skating is a very small, tight-knit community," said skater Rebecca Lichtman. "We're all around each other. There are a lot of connections with one another."
Lichtman said it is emotional when she takes the ice at her home rink in Buffalo Grove, wearing the jacket she received while at that same National Development Camp in Wichita earlier this week.
It was held in connection with the recent U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and many of the skating families overlapped at the events.
Lichtman shared a photo of her training squad with her arm around Alydia Livingston — who was killed in the plane crash.
Another photo showing the Chicago area kids at the development camp was shared on Instagram by 16-year-old Spencer Lane. He was also killed in the crash.
A video with Spencer showed another victim, Franco Aparicio.
In another photo, Jiaying Ellyse Johnson of North Barrington smiled with Jinna Han from Boston. The two were expecting to see each other again next week, but Han too was killed in the plane crash.
"I've never went through something like this. This is completely new to me," said Johnson, "and I'm trying my best to handle it and just like keep their families in their prayers and in my thoughts."
At least two of the skaters practicing in Buffalo Grove on Thursday were set to flay to a training camp in Boston on Sunday. That rink in Boston is Han and Lane's home rink.
The Chicago area skaters said they don't know how they'll feel when they get to Boston, but they know their friends loved the sport — and they see visiting the rink for the training camp as a way to honor them.
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