'Landing in 20 minutes:' Young Pakistani woman among US plane crash victims
- 31 Jan 2025
Gulf Today Report / Reuters
A Pakistani woman, Asra Hussain Raza, was among the 67 victims of a deadly mid-air collision in Washington involving a passenger aircraft and a military helicopter.
The Wednesday night disaster caused both aircraft to tumble into the icy Potomac River, killing 67 passengers and crew.
Asra was travelling on American Airlines Flight 5342 when it was struck midair by a US military Black Hawk training helicopter, leading to the tragic crash.
Moments before the accident, Asra texted her husband, Hamaad Raza, informing him that she would be landing in Washington in about 20 minutes, her final message before the disaster unfolded.
Hamaad Raza, who was waiting at the airport for her arrival, never received another message, his father, Hashim Raza, told Reuters.
"Asra was everything to us," Hashim Raza, holding back tears with a quavering voice, said in a telephone interview as he traveled from Missouri to Washington to meet his son. "And now my son is a widower at 25. What do I say to him? They planned to have children, they were so much looking forward to that."
The couple met at Indiana University Bloomington, where she studied corporate finance and was a straight-A student.
Hashim Raza said when his son first met Asra, he declared, "I'm going to marry her."
Asra Hussain Raza later earned her master's degree in public health from Columbia University and got a job with a consulting group in Washington, with the ultimate goal of working for the government to improve public health, her father-in-law said.
"All she wanted to do was help people, and DC, she thought, was the place to achieve her goals," Raza said. "And she was such a great cook - Indian, Italian, Chinese food. I told her to open a restaurant."
She travelled to Wichita about once or twice a month to help turn around a hospital, he said.
"She was an extremely caring person," he said. "She'd call just to say, 'I love you.'"
Hamaad, who lost his wife in the crash, resides in the state of Missouri. According to a close family friend, Hamaad and Asra had been married for two years. Asra was 26 years old, while Hamaad is 25. Both were graduates of Indiana University. Hamaad currently works as an accountant at Ernst & Young, and he mentioned that his wife never considered air travel to be a comfortable experience.
Raza’s father, Dr Hashim Raza, is originally from Karachi, Pakistan. A graduate of Dow University, Dr Hashim Raza is regarded as one of Missouri’s most distinguished doctors and is currently serving at the Missouri Baptist Medical Centre.
Pakistan PM Shahbaz offers condolences
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif expressed grief over the loss of lives caused by a mid-air accident between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Washington DC.
On his X account, the prime minister conveyed his condolences to US President Donald Trump and the American people at this difficult time.
“Deeply saddened by the tragic news of a mid-air accident between a passenger plane and a military helicopter in Washington DC. Our thoughts and prayers are with US President Donald Trump and the American people at this difficult time,” he wrote.
Shahbaz also conveyed his sympathies to the families of those who lost their loved ones and prayed for the safety of the survivors.
All 60 passengers and four crew members on board the ill-fated American Airlines flight have been confirmed dead.
Additionally, three military personnel aboard the Black Hawk helicopter also lost their lives.