Two Indian-origin individuals -- an aerospace engineer and a consultant -- were among the 67 people who were killed during the mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger plane and an Army helicopter in Washington D.C. earlier this week. The crash has been said to be the deadliest aviation disaster in the US in over two decades.
Vikesh Patel, from Greater Cincinnati, was employed with GE Aerospace for nearly 12 years and took up the role of an MRO -- maintenance, repair, and overhaul -- Transformation Leader last April, as per his LinkedIn profile.
In a tweet on Friday, GE Aerospace 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."
In a statement to the Cincinnati-based FOX19 tv channel, Larry Culp, chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, identified the employee as Patel.
He worked for GE Aerospace for more than a decade in several roles, including Engine Assembly Engineer, Production Planner, Senior Operations Manager, Lean Transformation Coach and Site Leader before his position changed in April 2024.
Meanwhile, Asra Hussain Raza, 26, was a consultant based in Washington D.C. and would travel to Wichita, Kansas, twice a month for work purposes, PTI news agency quoted her father-in-law Hashim Raza as saying
Born to Indian immigrants, Asra graduated with honours in 2020 from Indiana University and married her college sweetheart Hamaad Raza in August 2023.
Meanwhile, a video went viral on social media, showing a distraught Hamaad praying for the safety of his wife following news that the American Airlines Flight 5342 Asra was travelling on had crashed on Wednesday night.
Speaking to a local news outlet, Hamaad said that his wife messaged him that the flight would land in the next 20 minutes. But his reply to Asra was not delivered, which is when he realised that "something could be wrong".
“I was waiting, and I started seeing a bunch of EMS vehicles speeding past me, like way too many than normal, and two, my texts weren’t going through,” Hamaad was quoted as saying by NBC Washington. “It’s just, feels crazy that it happened to us, to be honest."
The crash at about 9 pm on Wednesday night took place as the American Airlines flight, carrying 60 passengers and four crew from Wichita, was approaching the runway of the Ronald Reagan airport -- just 5 km south of the White House and US Capitol.
The 67 victims comprised all onboard the passenger plane and three service members on the Army Black Hawk helicopter. The crash resulted in the two aircraft plunging into the freezing Potomac River.
By Friday afternoon, crews had recovered 41 bodies and 28 had been positively identified, D.C. Fire Chief John Donnelly Sr. said at a news conference.
Source: India Today