The U.S. skating community was in mourning on Thursday after learning several skaters were on an American Airlines regional passenger plane that crashed near Reagan Washington National Airport. The plane,

The young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River on Wednesday night were just beginning their journeys to stardom.

The city had tried for years to host the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, and to get a direct flight to the northeast.