Victims of Flight 5342 crash had ties to Ice House of New Jersey in Hackensack
The staff at the facility tells News 12 New Jersey that they are very familiar with figure skaters who were killed in the crash.
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.Among the reported victims of the deadly air collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and an Army Black Hawk helicopter are figure skaters who have ties to the Ice House of New Jersey – an elite skating facility in Hackensack. Two of the skaters were scheduled to train at Ice House next week.
"It's likely that many of these skaters would have been on the Olympic team in 2030," says Ice House director Craig Maurizi.
Identities have not been confirmed, but members of the skating community say the figure skaters they knew on the flight were all under the age of 15.
"I was really upset because I knew most of them. I wasn't really friends with them but I knew who they were," says 13-year-old figure skater, Makaley Taliercio.
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Maurizi says those figure skaters on board were on their way to becoming some of the best. He said they were attending workshops in Wichita, Kansas after seeing the national championships.
"To know that six hours later, they're gone, these little beautiful 12-year-old girls, it's really tough," says Maurizi.
Ellie Yu, 11, says she often competed against one of the girls.
"She was a really good figure skater. She had a lot of good jumps. I would always think wow her jumps are really nice," she says.
"This is just a terrible tragedy. Totally devastating. My heart is breaking. We knew some of the skaters. My hair is standing up just thinking about it," said Makaley's mom, Alena Taliercio.
