With cleanup and recovery efforts still ongoing from last week’s plane crash in Washington, D.C., the tragedy is bringing back painful memories of another aviation tragedy from more than 60 years earlier.

That crash also devastated the world’s figure skating community.

What You Need To Know

  • Last week's plane crash, which killed members of the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Team, is bringing back tragic memories of a 1961 crash 

  • That's when a plane carrying 72 people, including the U.S. Figure Skating National Team, crashed in Belgium, killing everyone aboard

  • A plaque with the names of the skaters, coaches, judges and family members is affixed to the wall of the Olympic Center in Lake Placid, where most all of the skaters trained

“They built a medium-security federal prison seven miles from here, FCI Ray Brook,” said Sean Donovan, a tour guide at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid who offers guests a trip back in time. “But the first people ever living at that prison were Olympic athletes."

Donovan's tour takes visitors inside the Olympic Games of 1980, and all the way back to the 1932 games, while also featuring all of the events that happened in between — that helped shape Lake Placid — both good and tragic.

“They were 72 people on this plane, but the 100% U.S. figure skating team is on there. They were all killed,” Donovan said.

Donovan’s tour stopped at a plaque on the wall of the Olympic Center. On Feb. 15, 1961, the entire U.S. figure skating team died in a plane crash in Belgium.

The team was on its way to the World Championships in Czechoslovakia. Among the 72 people killed were 18 skaters and 16 coaches, officials, judges and family members.

“These are the best. These are the best skaters in America. The best and some of the best in the world,” Donovan said of the skaters.

If you're asking, "Have I heard of this before?" it's possible some have not.

In his tour, Donovan explains that somehow, some way, the tragedy became overlooked.

“I do these tours, and I have people that are old enough to have been aware. Most of them have never heard of it. It just it didn't have the impact to the general public that it deserves,” Donovan said.

“Second from the top on the right side, Maribel Owen. In 1932, she competed here in the Olympics as Maribel Vinson. She won a bronze medal here in 1932,” Donovan said, saying she’s the most decorated skater in U.S. history, tied with Michelle Kwan for the most U.S. Figure Skating titles.

Owen also lost her two daughters in the crash.

An official cause of the crash has never been determined, but it is believed to be due to mechanical failure. One of the reasons the tragedy hit so hard in Lake Placid is that all of the skaters, at one point or another, trained here.

“They all skated here. They trained here. They competed here. Lake Placid has a huge figure skating history. It's much deeper than a hockey history,” Donovan added.

The tragic plane crash over Washington, D.C., last week killed 67, including figure skaters with the U.S. National Development Team, causing Donovan to pause – no longer stop – at the plaque on his tours.

“I just didn't feel comfortable talking about this,” he said, as tour requests were plentiful with the Empire State Winter Games in town.

But after a couple of days, he realized how important it was to honor those in 1961, and those today.