'Unimaginable loss': Tragic DC plane crash leaves school communities reeling
School communities in Virginia and Ohio mourned the victims and families devastated by the horrific mid-air collision between a passenger plane and an Army helicopter in nearby Washington, D.C.
Officials believe all 64 people aboard the American Airlines flight that took off from Wichita, Kansas, and all three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter were killed after the two aircraft collided above the Potomac River. The crash occurred just before 9 p.m. Wednesday when the passenger plane was on approach to the Ronald Reagan National Airport.
Loved ones and local communities with ties to the victims have begun to identify those lost in the tragedy. On Thursday, school districts in Virginia announced that current and former students as well as parents died in the flight collision.
In an email update, Fairfax County Public Schools Superintendent Michelle Reid said many on the flight were returning from a figure skating event in Wichita. Three students and six parents who died were part of the school district, according to Reid.
Two of the parents were current or former district staff members, Reid added. The pre-K through 12th grade district, located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., didn’t release the victims’ names out of respect for them and their families.
"Many are reaching out to share their sorrow and emotions at this difficult time. We are hearing from students, staff members, and others in the community who are expressing their care and concern for those who have lost loved ones," Reid said. "I invite you to join me in keeping all those affected by this deep community loss in our prayers."
'Unimaginable loss has deeply affected our community'
Loudon County Public Schools, a school district just outside Washington, also announced Thursday that multiple former students were among those who died.
"This unimaginable loss has deeply affected our community," Superintendent Aaron Spence said in an update. "Many other Loudoun families have also been impacted, and we extend our deepest condolences to all those grieving in the wake of this tragedy."
Cedarville University, a private Baptist university located in a village east of Dayton, Ohio, said a student was on board the flight from her hometown of Wichita. Grace Maxwell, 20, was supposed to return to the university on a connecting flight from the Reagan National Airport, the university said in a statement.
She was a junior studying mechanical engineering and minoring in biomedical engineering and was expected to graduate in 2026, according to the university. Described as a "thoughtful and quiet student leader," the university said Maxwell assisted mechanical engineering faculty as a grader.
“Grace was a quiet person with a keen interest in helping others through engineering,” Tim Norman, Ph.D, who served as her secondary advisor, said in a statement.
Maxwell had planned to work on a project this semester that would create a hand-stabilizing device for a Dayton boy so that he could feed himself instead of relying on others, according to the university. University President Thomas White was expected to address the student body about Maxwell's death during an all-campus chapel program on Friday.
Contributing: Shahid Meighan, The Columbus Dispatch