67 people were killed in a Washington midair collision, including two passengers of Indian descent.

An Army helicopter and a commercial aircraft collided at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, killing 67 people, including at least two of Indian descent.
Asra Hussain Raza, a consultant located in Washington, DC, and Vikesh Patel, who worked for GE Aerospace, were on board American Airlines flight 5342 on Wednesday night when it struck the military plane.

According to his professional biography, Patel, who lives in Greater Cincinnati, recently accepted a new role at the firm as an MRO Transformational Leader with nationwide responsibility.

In a statement to FOX19 on Thursday evening, Larry Culp, the chairman and CEO of GE Aerospace, acknowledged Patel's participation in the trip.

"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 stated. "Our hearts are with his family and all those impacted by this horrific accident."

Prior to his latest career change, Patel had a number of positions at GE Aerospace over his more than 10 years there, including Site Leader, Production Planner, Senior Operations Manager, Lean Transformation Coach, and Engine Assembly Engineer, according to a PTI article.
In the meantime, Asra Raza, 26, the second victim, was verified to be on board by her father-in-law, Dr. Hashim Raza, in a CNN statement.

According to Hashim, Raza, who was born to Indian immigrant parents, graduated from Indiana University in 2020 with honors and wed her college sweetheart in August 2023.
Raza traveled to Wichita every two weeks to work on a hospital development project while working as a consultant out of Washington, DC. To make sure her father-in-law had a safe trip home after his ER shifts, she kept in touch with him on a frequent basis. According to her father-in-law, "she went out of her way for everybody,"

Raza had texted her husband prior to the accident to let him know she would be arriving soon, but by the time he got to the airport, things had radically changed. Hamaad Raza recalled, "She said, 'We're landing in 20 minutes,'"

This turned out to be their last exchange of messages. "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 told NBC Washington. It seems as though comparable events occur in other nations and are reported in the news. When I arrive at the airport, my wife is not answering, so I check Twitter and find that it's her flight," he continued.
He added that friends and family who share in his sudden loss had helped him.
Since 2001, this tragedy has been the deadliest aviation disaster in American history.