27-02-2025
Little Rock figure skating club honors Washington D.C. plane crash victims
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – On Tuesday, Little Rock's Diamond Edge Figure Skating Club (DEGS) honored those in the figure skating community who died when a plane and helicopter collided in Washington D.C. last month.
Authorities said 28 members of the figure skating community were among the 67 people killed when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight and crashed into the Potomac River on Jan. 29.
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That heartache is still being felt by members of the DEGS Club, which did a special moment of silence and skating performance before their ice show at the Arkansas Skatium. Figure Skater Monica Jackson performed a special tribute named 'The Swan' before the show started.
'It's a loss like this that is felt all over the world.' Jackson said. 'Swans are elegant and peaceful and the beauty they emote I feel comes from figure skaters.'
She hopes the performance brings a sense of calm and peace to the families.
'When a loss like this happens, we all feel it,' Jackson said. 'We all rally together to embrace and lift one another up.'
Evie Ellis, an ice skater coached by Jackson, said she could feel the art coming from the ice performance.
'I could really feel the emotion in her performance tonight, it's something you don't see overnight,' Ellis said.
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Others with the club say they also set up a booth for people to write letters to the families affected and some donated money to help those families too.
'These are the people we are seeing at competitions, these are the people we are skating with or these are the people we are against,' Ellis said. 'So when one person from the club goes it's impactful for all of us.'
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