A dozen or more elite figure skaters were onboard the American Eagle flight that collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night, officials said.

After the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, some young athletes stayed a couple of additional days for further development.

The Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe pointed out the parallels in the 1961 plane crash and the collision on Wednesday, January 29

The plane that crashed near Washington, D.C., was carrying an unknown number of passengers from the figure skating community, including Russian husband-and-wife world champions. Wichita, Kansas, had hosted several high-profile skating events in recent days.

Figure skaters and coaches returning from the recent U.S. national championships were aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday,

The tight-knit figure skating community was rocked when an American Airlines flight carrying athletes, parents and coaches from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River.

The tight-knit figure skating community was rocked Wednesday when an American Airlines flight carrying athletes, parents and coaches from a development camp in Wichita, Kansas, collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River.

Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight included figure skaters returning from the U.S. Figure Skating Championships

The crash of an American Airlines jet that collided with an Army helicopter was the latest to strike the sports world in the U.S. and globally.

In all, 67 people are feared dead after an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter over Washington, D.C.

Once again, figure skaters representing the past, present and future of the sport perished in a catastrophic plane crash.

In 1961, the entire U.S. national team lost their lives in a plane crash en route to the world championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.