The calls and texts began early Thursday, ricocheting from one ice skater to another in the tight-knit ice skating community in Jackson, Wyoming.
Coaches, parents and ice skaters with the Skating Club of Jackson Hole had woken up to the horrific news that an American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, had collided with a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter as the plane was coming in for a routine landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.
Among the 60 passengers and four crew members on the American Airlines plane were at least 14 ice skaters, coaches and family members.
Federal and local first responders also said Thursday the three soldiers aboard a training flight on the Blackhawk helicopter were presumed dead, according to the Associated Press. No one is believed to have survived the fiery crash, which scattered wreckage across the Potomac River.
As firefighters combed the frigid waters in what had shifted from a rescue to a recovery mission, the identities of some of the plane’s passengers began to trickle out, including some of the ice skaters who were returning from a national development camp for promising young talent.
Two teenage skaters, their mothers and two former world champions-turned-coaches were among the first to be identified, all hailing from the Skating Club of Boston, a renowned training center that had launched the careers of many world-class skaters, including Olympic Silver Medalist Nancy Kerrigan.
Among those who had skated at the club was Becky Koenig, an advanced instructor and private coach at the Jackson Hole club.
She grew up in the Boston area and spent much of her summers working on her technique at the Boston rink before she ultimately became a 12-time national synchronized skating competitor who performed in the New York City’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Kerrigan’s “Halloween on Ice” TV special.
“I have a bunch of friends who skate out of there as adults,” Koenig told Cowboy State Daily. “It’s been a part of my life for a very long time.”
Boston Connection
While she did not know the two teens from the club who had been identified as among the victims, Koenig said she braced herself for the release of more names, although she said it was unlikely she knew any of the victims because she had left Boston two decades ago.
Still, she and other skaters pointed out, competitive ice skating is a small world.
“It's a very close group as far as figure skating, so you run into a lot of the same people at competitions and things like that,” Koenig said. “I've got friends from Boston texting me. I've got friends from here texting me, friends that live in LA, friends that I grew up with.
“We're all talking about it because it's such a small world that I've probably crossed paths with some of the people.”
Anna Marie Deland, another instructor at the Skating Club of Jackson Hole, said most competitive skaters run into each other at camps and qualifying matches.
“I know the news is very recent, and I haven't been able to track down if I do know anyone involved, but most likely there are skaters here in our community who will,” Deland said. “Hopefully not any children, hopefully just coaches.
“But you know, being the melting pot that Jackson is, we have a few coaches here that are from that area.”
Koenig’s feelings of dread come not just from her close connection to the Boston club and region, but also from knowing that a similar fate had befallen the same club in the 1960s.
Tragic Deja Vu
On Feb. 15, 1961, a plane carrying members of the U.S. Figure Skating Team from New York to the World Championships in Prague crashed on approach in Brussels, Belgium. All 73 passengers died, including 10 members of the Skating Club of Boston.
“It’s mind-boggling,” Koenig said. “This is the second time that that's happened to this particular skating club, which is terrible.”
One of the alternates who ended up going to the Olympics in place of some of the 1961 victims went on to become Koenig’s coach.
Allyson Bartels, 26, another Jackson Hole club coach, also grew up in Massachusetts and skated at the Boston club. Growing up, Bartels said, the 1961 tragedy was often evoked in skating circles.
“I definitely grew up with the ripple effects of that tragic tragedy, and for that to be happening again — it’s heartbreaking. It really is,” Bartels said. “To lose any incredible athletes or performers in this community is pretty devastating.”
Bartels spent Thursday talking to friends back East, gathering as much information as she could about the plane’s occupants. She said the names of the victims of the American Airlines flight were familiar to her, but Bartels said she did not know any of them personally.
It still hit close to home, she said, and she kept off of social media all day to shield herself from anything that might fray her already raw emotions.
“I’m just about to leave to go to practice,” she said, “and I’m kind of interested to see what the environment’s going to be like today as I greet my students.”
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.