The young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short Wednesday night when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army helicopter and crashed into the Potomac River were just beginning their journeys to stardom.

U.S. Figure Skating said several skaters, coaches and family members had attended a development camp that followed the championships that wrapped up Sunday in Kansas

Several members' of the U.S. Figure Skating community were onboard the American Airlines plane that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopter over Washington, D.C., the governing body said in a statement.