By Jennifer Stultz
Tri-County Tribune Editor
jstultz@cherryroad.com
Exemplifying Kansas solidarity and sorrow, U.S. Senators Roger Marshall and Jerry Moran shared heartfelt sympathy in a media press conference Thursday noon for air accident victims and their families. The media-only Zoom meeting was scheduled to provide any information available about the late Wednesday collision of a military Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Eagle Flight 5342.
The tragic accident took place at 8:48 p.m. Wednesday, January 29, in Washington, D.C. as the helicopter carrying three soldiers entered the landing path of the AA jet which had departed from Wichita, Kansas and held 60 passengers and four crew members. A fireball erupted as the airplane approached landing at the Ronald Reagan National Airport and collided with the helicopter over the Potomac River. There were no survivors.
Marshall, Moran, and Kansas U.S. Congressman Ron Estes spent the night after the accident and much of the next day in meetings with officials from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Reagan National Airport, American Airlines and others, looking for answers to how and why the accident occurred.
“We want to express our care and sadness for our communities and the families of these victims,” said Moran. “We are thankful for the heroic efforts made to try and save any lives; we want to make sure to do anything and everything possible to make sure that nothing like this can happen again.”
At the press conference Marshall mentioned other tragedies that involved Kansans including a military plane crash in a Wichita neighborhood in the 1960 that killed 30 people, and the Udall tornado in 1955 that killed 80 and injured more than 200 Kansans.
“When just one life is lost it is a tragedy,” Marshall said. “But when 67 are killed as we have experienced in the last 24 hours, it brings us unbearable sorrow and heartbreak beyond measure.”
As the senators answered questions posed by members of the media about the Wednesday crash, Marshall said he would continue to be radically transparent, following the communication policy of President Trump because it was important to find out how and why this accident occurred.
“We are not here to place blame,” he said. “At this time, it looks like errors were made. We need to make certain that every American is safe to fly and feels safe to fly. We need to find out what laws need to change and follow up with action.”
Marshall also said that this was a time for Kansans to come together and support fellow Kansans, particularly as name lists of plane crash victims are released, pending notification of all relatives.
“It will be a second gut-punch when the list of victims is released,” Marshall said. “We [Marshall, Moran, and Estes] fly on these flights from Wichita to D.C. regularly. We know three-fourths of the people on this plane, on these regular flights. This is a time of mourning and grief, but we must not forget that God is with us. We pray that God will give us all, particularly the families, strength, comfort, and peace in the aftermath of this tragedy.”
Victims’ names from the Wednesday commercial airline crash began to filter out on social media and major news outlets on Thursday.
The Gyp Hill Premiere newspaper in Medicine Lodge confirmed that Robert (Bobby) and Lori Schrock of Kiowa, Kansas were among the 67 people who died in the crash. They were traveling to their second home on the east coast to visit their daughter who attends Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
A hunting organization and outfitter from Great Bend called Fowl Plains, confirmed that seven Kansas hunters and members of their club were killed in the plane crash on Wednesday night.
“We are completely heartbroken,” a Fowl Plains representative said in a statement. “Please pray for the families, friends and for our three other hunters in the group who were driving home. Heartbroken is an understatement.”
The Miss Kansas Organization, which holds their annual Miss Kansas Competition every year in Pratt, shared on social media that Kiah Duggins, Miss Butler County 2014, 2015 was a passenger in the plane that crashed January 29 in Washington, D.C. Larry Strong, Executive Director for the Miss Augusta/ Miss Butler County titles said that Duggins was preparing to be a law professor at Howard University in the fall and had been in Wichita supporting her mother who was undergoing a medical procedure.
More south-central Kansas connections to crash victims are expected to emerge as additional details become available in the coming days. An MSN.com story said that Doug Zeghibe, the CEO of the Skating Club of Boston, confirmed at a briefing Thursday that “to the best of their knowledge” 14 skaters were on board the flight, returning home from a development camp put on in Wichita by U.S. Figure Skating.
Marshall and Moran said they will be working hard to discover and share crash information and details about the incident.
“This will be a long process,” Marshall said. “But we begin now with the grieving process.”
