MAITLAND, Fla. — This week’s air disaster has been heart felt across the ice-skating community in Central Florida and around the world.

Two teenage figure skaters, their mothers, and two former world champions who coached the young athletes were among the 14 members of the skating community killed when their plane crashed into a military helicopter near Washington D.C. Wednesday night.

Orlando Ice Den Skating Director BJ Shue Chapman said she was shocked and devastated when she learned about the air disaster on Wednesday.

“There were 26 people on the flight that we knew or had a connection to,” Chapman said.

Most were returning home from an event in Wichita. 

“Today is a day to mourn, to be kind, to remember," Chapman said. "To remember the athletes and coaches that are no longer with us."

Some would call Chapman an ice-skating institution in Central Florida, where she has been a figure skating instructor for 28 years and works with hundreds of competitors.

“The majority of skaters have a serious goal practice five or six days a week,” she said.

Many of her athletes go through a series of qualifying competitions around the country. 

This week, some were in Wichita for nationals, including her son, Timmy. 

Chapman said she believes the skating community will get through this dark time and will eventually come out stronger.

“Everyone on that plane would want everyone to keep going," she said. "And I think if they could talk to us, that is what they would say to us. There were coaches on that plane. They would not want their athletes to stop skating."