Wife texted husband that she was landing in DC in 20 minutes. That was her final message
Twenty minutes before 26-year-old Asra Hussain-Raza and the other 63 people aboard American Eagle Flight 5342 were supposed to land at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night, she texted her husband for what would be the final time.
“We’re landing in 20," Hussain-Raza texted her husband, Hamaad Raza, per multiple reports.
Hussain-Raza would become one of the 64 people who died when American Eagle Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter carrying three soldiers, who were also killed.
“She gave a lot, but she had so much more to give,” Hamaad Raza told WFIU/WTIU News. “But if there was ever someone who took advantage of their 26 years of life, it was her.
Of the 67 deceased individuals involved in the crash, more than 40 bodies have been recovered as of Friday afternoon, the Washington Post reported, citing "law enforcement official familiar with the investigation."
'It’s devastating that she was only around for 26 years'
Hashim Raza, Hussain-Raza's father-in-law, told Paste BN on Thursday that the Indiana University (IU) graduate was a Renaissance woman who "was brilliant" and kindhearted.
“She was cultured, she was a fashion person, she was a fantastic cook," Hashim Raza said. “She would call (friends) just to say hello and check on them. She was a very good person. It’s devastating that she was only around for 26 years.”
Hussain-Raza and her husband met while they both were attending IU, according to her father-in-law. The couple wed two and a half years ago. When Hashim Raza asked his son why he wanted to marry her, he answered: "She was the kindest person he’d ever met."
Asra Hussain-Raza was working on American Eagle Flight 5342 before crash
According to IU, Hussain-Raza graduated in 2020 with a bachelor’s in healthcare management and policy. She then earned her master's degree in health administration from Columbia University, IUSTV reported. At the time of the deadly collision, she was working at a Wichita, Kansas hospital for a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm.
"She was returning from a work trip where she was helping to improve a hospital that really needed help," Hamaad Raza said, per WFIU/WTIU News. "And, you know, she was doing what she loved. She was even working on the flight."
Paul Helmke, one of Hussain's former professors at IU, described her as a thoughtful and determined young woman.
"She'd ask tough questions of our speakers, and she pushed for her point of view," Helmke told the Indianapolis Star, which is a part of the Paste BN Network. "But that's the kind of people we want in the world. It's just such a tragedy."
Contributing: Ryan Murphy & Noe Padilla/ Indianapolis Star