The camp serves as a launchpad for athletes vying for their spot on Team USA in the upcoming world championships.

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 pilot and first officer on the American Airlines plane that crashed into a military helicopter Wednesday night—killing all 64 people on board—have been identified by a colleague and family member as victims alongside American and Russian figure skaters,

The athletes were flying from Wichita, Kan. to Washington D.C. on American Eagle Flight 5342 when the crash occurred around 9 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration said.

The accident was an eerie reminder of the 1961 plane crash that killed the U.S. figure skating delegation en route to the world championships in Prague.

Figure skaters and coaches returning from the U.S. national championships were aboard the American Airlines flight that collided with a Black Hawk helicopter.

Sixty passengers and four crew members were aboard American Eagle Flight 5342, and the Black Hawk helicopter was carrying three people when they collided over the Potomac River.

The ties to Boston conjured up painful memories for Nathan Birch, a Baltimore skater who grew up training at that very same club. He remembered seeing memorials from the 1961 crash, which killed several Boston club members, on the walls and in an upstairs lounge.

A pair of 16-year-old skaters, their mothers, and two Russian coaches were among the passengers on board an aeroplane that hit a helicopter above Washington DC on Wednesday evening, the group's skating club in Boston says.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — News of Wednesday night's crash over the Potomac River in Washington D.C. sent shockwaves through the figure skating community, including those at the Broadmoor Skating Club and U.S. Figure Skating in Colorado Springs.

Two young figure skaters, two of their parents and two highly-regarded Russian figure skating coaches were among those killed after an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the frigid waters of the Potomac River.

A collision between an American Airlines jetliner and an Army helicopter near Washington D.C. killed everyone on both aircraft on the evening of Jan. 29. It is among the country's deadliest aviation disasters since the 9/11 attacks.