The U.S. skating community came together Sunday for a fundraiser and tribute to the victims of a collision between an American Airlines flight and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on Jan. 29 over the Potomac River in Washington.
Sixty-seven people, all the people on both aircraft, died in the crash, including 28 members of the U.S. figure skating community — 11 young figure skaters, four couches and 13 family members — who had been to the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita, Kansas.
One of the most emotional performances Sunday night was delivered by Maxim Naumov, who skated to a favorite song of his parents, Evgenia Shishkov and Vadim Naumov, who died in the crash.
The two-hour Legacy on Ice event was hosted by Olympic figure skating champions Brian Boitano and Kristi Yamaguchi. They and other veteran skaters, including Scott Hamilton and Nathan Chen, also performed.
The event began to take shape a week after the crash. Monumental Sports and Entertainment, organizers of the tribute, said they have so far raised $1.2 million for the victims' families and the first responders.
“We continue to be in awe of and grateful to this community, whose compassion and support was out in full force for the ‘Legacy on Ice’ event,” Monumental chairman Ted Leonsis said in a statement.
He said the money raised is set to be divided among the families impacted by the collision, first responders and U.S. Figure Skating.
The Associated Press reported that almost 500 first responders and approximately 150 family members of the victims were in the audience.
NBC is scheduled to broadcast "Legacy on Ice" on March 30.
