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.

Some skaters, their families, and coaches were on American Airlines Flight 5342 that crashed with a military helicopter on Wednesday night.

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.