Sean O'Reilly, general manager of the Wichita Ice Center, said his team got to know numerous athletes who had been in Wichita for a development camp after the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Just days after figure skaters, family and coaches from across the United States came together in Wichita, a tragic plane crash has left the U.S. Figure Skating community reeling.

The community had just hosted the U.S. National Figure Skating Championships, the first national skating event held here and a huge feather in the cap of local residents who had spent years working to build up the sport,

Spencer Lane, a 16-year-old figure skater from Rhode Island, and his mother, Christine Lane, 49, were among those killed in Wednesday night’s plane crash while en route from Wichita to Washington, D.C.

Among those athletes competing in Wichita are former and hopefully future Olympians, many of whom are also defending national champions.

Officials from the national figure skating organization and East Coast-based clubs confirmed that skaters, coaches and family members were among those lost in Wednesday's crash.

"Heartbreaking" is the word that is being used to describe the midair collision between a military helicopter and an American Airlines flight in Washington, D.C.

A young ice skating duo and their coach were among the victims aboard the doomed American Airlines plane that collided with a Black Hawk chopper Wednesday night, according to a report. Youngsters Angela Yang and Sean Kay and their teacher Alexandr “Sasha” Kirsanov were all killed as the plane traveling from Wichita,