Retired Alaska Olympic figure skater mourns victims of deadliest airline crash in years [Video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – One figure skater is stunned after a commercial flight collided with a military helicopter Wednesday night over the Potomac River in Washington D.C., resulting in a massive recovery effort and over 60 feared dead.

Figure skaters returning from a development camp that followed the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas, were among the 64 people aboard the fatal American Airlines flight to Washington D.C., according to U.S. Figure Skating.

Keegan Messing, born in Girdwood and a two-time Olympian representing Canada, said he learned of the deaths of the figure skaters before he even heard the news of the collision itself.

Messing said it’s the close-knit nature of the skating community that kept him informed, but he isn’t close with anyone who was aboard the plane.

He extended his condolences to anyone who lost a passenger, but for Messing, what seemed to resonate the most was the younger passengers. Based on reports Messing heard, at least one …