Figure skating event in Washington benefiting victims of the DC plane crash raises $1.2 million

WASHINGTON (AP) — Organizers of a figure skating benefit event in Washington said they have already raised $1.2 million for victims of the D.C. plane crash and first responders.

Monumental Sports & Entertainment on Monday said the Legacy on Ice tribute show Sunday in the nation's capital drew a sellout crowd of over 15,000 and more money is expected to come in over the next several weeks. After it was broadcast locally on Monumental Sports Network and streamed live on Peacock, NBC is set to air an encore performance on March 30.

“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. “Against the backdrop of this massive tragedy, this region has provided a light in showcasing its generosity and empathy for the victims, their families, and the heroic first responders, and I encourage people to continue to donate if they can.”

The show featured performances from the likes of Johnny Weir, reigning world men's champion Ilia Malinin and back-to-back U.S. women's champion Amber Glenn, as well as poignant tributes to the 67 people who died when an Army helicopter collided with an American Airlines flight and crashed into the Potomac River just outside of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Jan. 29. That included 28 members of the figure skating community.

“Being here in this region and knowing everyone on that flight in our community, it was a very traumatic experience for me and really just devastating for me to hear when all that happened,” said Malinin, a Northern Virginia native who knew several of the skaters who were on the flight and was responsible for the idea that led to the event. “I really wanted to have something that everyone could remember as a family, as a whole community that we remember them and they will be forever remembered.”

The poignant, two-plus-hour event was full of raw emotion, like 13-year-old Isabella Aparicio skating in memory of her brother, Franco, and father, Luciano, who were on the flight and weeping on her knees at the conclusion of her appearance. Maxim Naumov, who lost his parents in the crash, performed in their honor and wiped away tears as he left the ice, holding up an electric candle as applause rained down.

“It really put me to tears and it put a lot of us to tears,” Malinin said. "I was really just proud of him for being able to kind of wrap his mind around this and really just get on that ice and perform with everything he’s got.”

The event was put together a week after the crash, and the star-studded cast of some of U.S. figure skating's best of the past and present included Olympic champions Scott Hamilton, Brian Boitano, Kristi Yamaguchi and Nathan Chen.

Monumental said nearly 500 first responders and approximately 150 family members of victims were in attendance. The money raised is set to be split among the 67 families affected, first responders and U.S. Figure Skating.

“We want to raise a lot of money and make sure that a third goes to the skaters community, a third goes to the first responders and a third goes to the families,” Leonsis told The Associated Press on Sunday. “People care. The lesson in this is that, to me, if you personalize something like this, you can come together and do the right things in the right way. I’m proud of what we’ve done.”

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