There is a memorial on the grounds of the hotel to the members of the 1961 US Figure Skating team, all of whom perished in the crash of their flight to the 1961 championships near Brussels, Belgium.
Meeker's misfortune proved to be good fortune for her: Pierce and Sherbloom were killed, along with the rest of the U.S. Figure Skating team, when their plane (Sabena Flight 548) crashed near Brussels, Belgium on the way to the World Championships.
Roger Campbell, member of the 1960 US Figure Skating World Team, a casualty of Sabena Flight 548 that crashed en route to the World Championships in Prague.
Sabena Flight 548, registration OO-SJB, was a Boeing 707 aircraft that crashed en route to Brussels, Belgium, from New York City on February 15, 1961, killing the entire United States Figure Skating team on its way to the 1961 World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
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Although Scott Allen won a bronze medal at the 1964 Winter Olympics – becoming one of the youngest Olympic medalists in history – the United States would not regain prominence in the sport until the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, where Peggy Fleming won gold in the ladies' event and Tim Wood the silver in the men's singles event.
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The loss of the U.S. team was considered so catastrophic for the international sport that the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships were cancelled.
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They boarded Sabena Flight 548 at New York City's Idlewild International Airport along with the rest of the American team.