CHICAGO (WLS) — Some of the victims on the American Eagle flight that crashed into the Potomac River after a midair collision with a U.S. Army helicopter had just attended a figure skating competition in Kansas where they competed against skaters from the Chicago area.

The figure skating community is very small and tight-knit, and now the Chicago area skaters and coaches are grieving for the athletes and coaches who lost their lives.

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World champion figure skater and Olympic gold medalist Alexa Knierim, who is now a coach in the northwest suburbs herself, praised Vadim Naumov Eugenia Shishkova, who were killed in the crash. They coached her and so many others.

“They made a positive impact on me as well as everyone in the skating world,” she said. “Everybody adored them. They were a very kind loving couple.”

Also among the victims are teenagers Jinna Han and Spencer Lane who, among other rising stars from the Chicago area, were in Wichita for the U.S. Figure Skating Championships and a youth development camp. Their friends at Twin Rinks in Buffalo Grove had no idea that would be the last time they were all together.

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Many of those on the ill-fated flight stayed on for an extra few days to attend a development camp. Jiaying Johnson was close with several of them.

“I was literally talking with some of them before take-off, and it was just a huge shock,” she said.

Lorenzo Elano of Chicago should have been celebrating the national junior championship he won over the weekend in Wichita, but he was just going through the motions. He and the rest of the skating community are mourning the loss of many of their own in Washington D.C. last night.

“It’s still heartbreaking cuz we see them often and we know about them and it’s just horrible,” he said.

Alexa Gasparatto should also be celebrating landing a rare triple axel in practice, but she is grief stricken. The skating community is like family, she said, and the athletes get to know each other well after spending a huge chunk of their lives at ice rinks.

“I can’t even get the words out,” she said. “There’s just so many thoughts going through my head.”

Coach Jeremy Allen has been around the sport for most of his life and grew up hearing about the tragic plane crash in 1961 that killed members of the U.S. National Team.

“It’s such a tragedy. this is something that’s gonna take a long time or our community to get over,” he said.

The victims from the crash come from all walks of life. Five of them were union members of the DC-area steamfitters and plumbers locals returning home from a Kansas hunting trip. Their national president was preparing to fly to Chicago when he learned the news.

“It’s a crushing blow. We’re resilient folks. We’re tough folks, but this one hurts,” said Mark McManus of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters.