Washington: At least two Indian-origin persons are among the 67 people killed in a midair collision between an Army helicopter and a jetliner at Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport, according to media reports.
Vikesh Patel, a GE Aerospace engineer and Asra Hussain Raza, a Washington DC-based consultant were on the doomed American Airlines flight 5342 that collided with the Army helicopter as it approached the airport on Wednesday night.
Patel, from Greater Cincinnati, had recently switched jobs at the company and was an MRO Transformational Leader who travelled around the country, according to his LinkedIn page.
In a statement to FOX19, Larry Culp, chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, which is headquartered in Evendale, identified the employee on Thursday night as Patel.
“This is a tragedy not only for our industry but also for the GE Aerospace team as one of our cherished colleagues, Vikesh Patel, was onboard the flight,” Culp said.
“Our hearts are with his family and all those impacted by this horrific accident.”
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 most recently Site Leader before his position changed.
The collision is the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001.
Raza, 26, was one of several victims killed, her father-in-law, Dr. Hashim Raza, told CNN.
A daughter of Indian immigrants, Raza graduated with honours in 2020 from Indiana University and married her college sweetheart in August 2023, Hashim said.
Raza was a Washington, DC-based consultant who travelled to Wichita twice a month to work on a turnaround project for a hospital there, her father-in-law said.
She would often call him at the end of his late emergency room shifts to make sure he stayed awake on the drive home, he told CNN.
“She went out of her way for everybody,” her father-in-law said.
Raza’s husband said his wife texted him that she was about to land, but by the time he got to the airport to pick her up, his life had changed forever.
“She said, ‘We’re landing in 20 minutes,’” Hamaad Raza said.
That was the last thing he heard from his wife.
“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 NBCwashington.
“It’s just, feels crazy that it happened to us, to be honest,” he said.
“I mean, it’s like you see these things happen in the news, you see them happen in other countries. And then, I show up at the airport, and my wife’s not responding, and I look on Twitter and I see that it’s her flight.”
He said he’s been surrounded by loved ones who are all devastated by the tragic and unexpected loss.
PTI
