At the end of his figure skating performance, when the last note of his parents’ favorite song played in an arena packed with spectators and heavy with sorrow, Maxim Naumov dropped to his knees at the center of the ice. He remained there for what seemed like forever, awash in a spotlight, looking lost and sobbing.

The Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion hosted a memorial exhibition Friday evening called Skate for the 28, honoring the 28 members of the figure skating community who died on the American Airlines flight involved in the Jan.

Organizers of a figure skating benefit event in Washington, D.C. said they have already raised $1.2 million for victims of the plane crash over the Potomac River and first responders.

Figure skaters at Twin Rinks Ice Pavilion used the ice as a way to express emotion, but it also allowed them to stop and grieve for the 28 figure skaters and coaches who died in January's plane crash.

Of the 67 people killed in the mid-air collision January 29 near Washington, D.C., 28 were part of the tight-knit national figure skating community. There was a local effort Friday to raise money for their families.