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

Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning. The deaths came after the passenger jet was preparing to land shortly before 9 p.m. at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport after flying from Wichita,

Tara Lipinski, Nancy Kerrigan and more figure skaters are sharing statements of shock and grief after the American Airlines flight crashed Wednesday evening.