Two Indian Americans, Vikesh Patel and Asra Hussain Raza, were among the 67 people killed in a mid-air collision at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington on Wednesday night. The accident involved an American Airlines jetliner, Flight 5342, and a US Army helicopter, making it the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001.
Patel, a GE Aerospace engineer from Greater Cincinnati, and Raza, a Washington, DC-based consultant, were traveling on the flight when the collision occurred. GE Aerospace chairman and CEO Larry Culp confirmed Patel’s death, calling it a tragedy for the industry and company.
“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 on board the flight,” Culp said. “Our hearts are with his family and all those impacted by this horrific accident.”
Raza, 26, had graduated with honors from Indiana University in 2020 and married in August 2023. She worked as a consultant and frequently traveled to Wichita. Her father-in-law, Dr. Hashim Raza, told CNN that she regularly called him after his late-night shifts to ensure he stayed awake on his drive home.
“She went out of her way for everybody,” he said.
Her husband, Hamaad, said she had texted him shortly before the scheduled landing.
“She said, ‘We’re landing in 20 minutes,’” he recalled. That was the last message he received.
When she stopped responding, he saw emergency vehicles racing past him at the airport. Then, he checked Twitter and realized her flight was involved in the crash.
“It just feels crazy that it happened to us,” he told NBC Washington.
