As more details emerge about the victims of the mid-air collision between a military helicopter and a passenger jet near Washington D.C., reports confirm that two persons of Indian origin, Asra Hussain Raza and Vikesh Patel were among the passengers on the airplane.
On the night of January 29, there was a mid-air collision between a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers from Wichita, Kansas to Washington D.C. The collision took place near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in D.C. a few minutes before 9 p.m. ET. All 64 passengers aboard the passenger jet and three passengers in the helicopter are presumed dead.
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26-year-old Hussain Raza was the daughter of Indian immigrants, and worked as a consultant in D.C. She was returning from a work trip in Wichita, where she traveled twice a month. Her husband Hamaad Raza said that he received a text from his wife before the crash, informing him that her flight would be landing in twenty minutes. That was the last he heard from her.
Vikesh Patel, another victim who was onboard the American Airlines flight, was an employee of GE Aerospace for more than a decade, according to his LinkedIn profile. He completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland Baltimore County and his graduate degree from Penn State University. In a social media post, the CEO of GE Aerospace Larry Culp said, “This is a tragedy not only for our industry, but also for the GE Aerospace team, as one of our cherished colleagues was onboard the flight. Our hearts are with all the families impacted by this horrific accident.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.