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Pittsburgh area figure skaters remember those lost in DC plane crash, "Just sadness."

Local figure skaters remember those lost in plane crash
Local figure skaters remember those lost in plane crash 03:38

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Pittsburgh's figure skating community has been hit hard by the midair DC plane crash which killed a number of up-and-coming ice skaters from across the country. 

That includes Sara Sebring, a 16-year-old figure skater who trains at the ice rink at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center. She personally knew 6 of the figure skaters who died in the crash. They were coming back from a training camp in Wichita.

"It's been really difficult," she said. "The people that were on that flight didn't deserve any of it. They were so kind, and they were very loved by me and by others."

She competed against some of them and trained with others. She used to be close with one of the skaters, she said. 

"Just sadness," she said she was feeling. "Sadness for my friends that I know have lost people, my friends that have lost coaches, for family, just deep sorrow." 

She's found comfort in talking to people who feel like she is - realizing she's not alone. 

"I've been trying to keep them in my memory," she said. 

Rachel Lane-McCarthy was on her way to teach lessons at the rink Thursday morning when she heard about the skaters who had died. 

"Most of the students were devastated," she said. "A lot of my skaters knew the other skaters. The names just kept flooding in."

She personally knew one of the coaches who died in the crash. "I gave my skaters a lot of hugs today. Let them cry. I cried with them. I don't know how anyone is gonna deal with this, I mean we're just gonna be strong for each other."

She called it one of the most tragic things to ever happen in the skating community. 

"I just kept asking, why? How does something like this happen?" she said. 

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