Dozens who died over Washington shared a flight but each had their own story

The moments Grace Maxwell had shared with her grandfather over the years had been “his greatest joy.” And a trip home to Wichita, Kansas, had allowed the 20-year-old to be by his side one final time.

Maxwell, a mechanical engineering major, was returning to college just a day after her grandfather’s funeral when she and 66 others were killed in Wednesday’s collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C.

One of the victims was a young lawyer from the capital city whose meeting in Wichita ended early enough for her to make a flight back for her birthday celebration. Another was a police colonel whose home was in the Philippines, but whose work had taken him to Kansas to check out equipment the force planned to purchase.

As Maxwell’s classmates in Ohio filled the pews of Cedarville University’s chapel Friday, they joined others mourning the singular lives lost and grasping to make sense of the random circumstances that put friends and loved ones in harm’s way Wednesday night.

“Can you imagine losing a parent and seven days later losing a child,” Cedarville’s president, Thomas White, told Maxwell’s classmates Friday.

On campus, Maxwell was known for her devotion to helping others, working this semester on making a hand-stabilizing device to help a disabled boy feed himself and chipping in at the student radio station, the school said.

“We don’t know why a young, bright, shining star was taken from us way too soon,” White said.

Coincidence and fleeting decisions led many of the passengers to board Flight 5342.

Elizabeth Anne Keys, an attorney, had traveled to Wichita on a business trip and was worried she might not be able to celebrate her 33rd birthday back in Washington with her longtime partner, David Seidman.

But her work meeting wrapped up with time to spare, allowing her to catch the flight home on her birthday and make plans for the couple to get drinks late that night, Seidman said.

“She was super excited,” he said Friday.

Keys, a native of Cincinnati, and Seidman, from New York, had met as law students at Washington’s Georgetown University. The capital had become their city, and Keys was endlessly energetic as they explored it together.

She had played the saxophone, oboe and bassoon in high school and was on the sailing team in college. She loved taking ski trips out West, hiking in Hawaii and entertaining friends around the fire pit at her home, her family said.

Seidman said he had never skied until she encouraged him to give it a shot. She wanted to try golf next and they were planning to take lessons.

“It was like that for everything,” he said. “She was non-stop all the time.”

A fellow passenger on the flight, Pergentino Malabed Jr., was more than 8,000 miles and 13 time zones from his home in the Philippines. But as the head of supply management for his country’s 232,000-officer national police force, Malabed had traveled to Wichita for the equipment inspection.

“His untimely passing is a profound loss to the Philippine National Police, where he served with honor, with integrity and dedication throughout his career,” the national police said in a statement.

Malabed and dozens of others boarded the jet as many do every day, making an instant community — for a few hours — of disparate travelers who likely shared little connection, if any.

Asra Hussain, 26, was returning to Washington from a work trip. The native of Carmel, Indiana, had earned both undergraduate and graduate degrees in health care administration, before she and her husband settled in the capital.

Casey Crafton, a father of three, was on his way home to Salem, Connecticut, where he coached youth soccer and was involved in Little League.

“Our small town is heartbroken by a devastating tragedy,” the Salem Little League said in a Facebook post. “The Crafton family, deeply involved in all things Salem, has suffered an unimaginable loss.”

And in Charlotte, North Carolina, friends of Wendy Shaffer struggled to explain the loss of the vivacious mother whose two young sons were her pride and joy.

“Her love, kindness, and unwavering spirit touched everyone who knew her,” friends of the family wrote on a fundraising site. “And her absence leaves a void that can never be filled.”

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