World champion figure skaters, a pilot planning his wedding and teenaged skaters seen as the "future of the sport" were among the 67 victims of the deadly midair collision between a commercial jet and a U.

Multiple figure skaters from the United States and Russia were among those killed when American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed near Washington DC on Wednesday evening. Officials say at least 28 bodies have been recovered after the passenger jet collided with a US Army helicopter and plunged into the Potomac River.

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.