Charlotte area figure skating community remembers plane crash victims

INDIAN TRAIL, N.C. – As authorities continue to search for answers about what caused the tragic mid-air collision in DC Wednesday night, we are learning more about the victims and their connection to our Charlotte area community.

At least 14 victims who died on Flight 5342 were members of the U.S. Figure Skating community leaving a camp for rising talent in Wichita, Kansas. Jenny Wesley Gwyn, Figure Skating School Director says Indian Trail hosted the same camp in 2020.

“They’re talented and growing in the sport and the future of the sport. So that’s a huge, huge loss. So much talent lost,” Wesley Gwyn said.

Two young skaters from the Charlotte area were training alongside some of the victims at the facility in Kansas.

“They were all together over this past week and made new friends. I think that’s just going to be a layer of every day understanding more,” Wesley Gwyn said. “A tragedy like this is for everybody is so much, but for a child to experience death is still something that they’re learning.”

Some skaters have already returned to practice while processing the loss. Wesley Gwyn says coaches across the country are planning to remember the victims together next week with a moment of silence.

“They’ll see the honor and memorial of those skaters and it’ll just be overwhelming,” Wesley Gwyn said. “Just knowing that they’re not alone, we’re all in this understanding and feeling for each other.”

As the community stays on the ice, Weslyn Gwyn says they see purpose in pushing through this tragedy.

“There’s so much around there that’s so heavy for them that, the ice right now is going to bring us a little bit of lightness,” Weslyn Gwyn said. “We have been trying to be compassionate, listening and checking in with the kids.”

U.S. Figure Skating hosted a mental health check in call Thursday night. The clubs are planning a united moment of silence Monday when all skaters will stop and look at a webcam that’s connected to a site that broadcasts different ice centers across America to pause and reflect on the loss.