On Feb. 15, 1961, the 18 members of the 1961 U.S. figure skating world team, and 16 coaches, officials and family members, gathered at Idlewild Airport in Queens, New York, to board Sabena Flight 548 en route to Brussels, Belgium, a stopover on the way to the 1961 World Figure Skating Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia.
Spirits were high. Several of the athletes, including U.S. women’s champion Laurence Owen, had medal hopes. All were excited, if a bit apprehensive, about competing for the U.S. behind what was then thought of as the “Iron Curtain” of Eastern Europe.