Kiah Duggins — a 30-year-old Civil Rights attorney, aspiring Howard Law professor, former Michelle Obama intern, and former Miss Kansas contestant — has been identified as one of the victims in the American Airlines plane and Black Hawk helicopter crash outside of Washington, D.C.
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As we previously shared, on Wednesday evening (January 29), an American Airlines passenger plane, carrying 60 passengers and 4 crew members, collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, carrying three soldiers, at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
Following the collision with the Black Hawk, American Airlines Flight 5342 crashed into the Potomac River. Later that night, Washington D.C. Fire and EMS Chief John Donnelly gave a heartbreaking update on the midair American Airlines and Black Hawk collision, sadly revealing that there were no survivors in the crash. He said, “We are now at the point where we are switching from a rescue operation to a recovery operation. We don’t believe there are any survivors.”
RELATED: No Survivors In DC Plane Crash: Tragic Midair Collision Kills 31
Family and friends of the victims who lost their lives in the American Airlines and Army helicopter D.C. plane crash are sharing tributes online as they wait for more answers about how the tragedy occurred. Among the American Airlines and Army helicopter D.C. plane crash victims is Kiah Duggins, a Civil Rights attorney, aspiring Howard Law professor, former Michelle Obama intern, and former Miss Kansas contestant.
Duggins was flying into Washington, D.C. from Wichita, KS as she was “preparing to be a law professor at Howard University in the fall,” according to her former Miss Kansas Pageant Director Larry Strong. In a Facebook post, he wrote, “It is with heavy heart that the Miss Augusta and Miss Butler County organization just learned that Kiah Duggins Miss Butler County 2014 [and] 2015 was a passenger in the plane that crashed last evening in Washington DC. Kiah was [a] top 10 finalist in 2014 and 2015 at the Miss Kansas Pageant. Keep the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”
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In addition to her pageant career, Duggins was a Civil Rights attorney with the non-profit, Civil Rights Corps. According to her profile on the company’s website, Duggins has “litigate[d] on behalf of movements challenging unconstitutional policing and money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C.” She previously earned her law degree from Harvard University, “where she served as the President of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.”
She also has multiple Bachelor’s degrees from Wichita State University and she “completed a Fulbright grant in Taiwan” before working in Washington D.C. During her time at Wichita State, Duggins served as a White House intern under former First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let Girls Learn” program.
Here is the latest list of victims identified from the American Airlines D.C. plane crash:
- Jonathan Campos, captain on American Airlines flight 5342
- Samuel “Sam” Lilley, the first officer on American Airlines flight 5342, recently got engaged
- Ian Epstein (53), a flight attendant on American Airlines flight 5342
- Kiah Duggins (30), a Civil Rights attorney, aspiring Howard Law professor, former Michelle Obama intern, and former Miss Kansas contestant
- Wendy Jo Shaffer (35), a wife and mother of two young children
- Vadim Maumov (55), a Skating Club of Boston coach, renowned former Russian figure skater
- Evgenia Shishkova (52), a Skating Club of Boston coach, renowned former Russian figure skater
- Jinna Han (13), a Skating Club of Boston athlete
- Jin Han (49), Jinna Han’s mother
- Spencer Lane (16), a Skating Club of Boston athlete
- Christine Conrad Lane (49), Spencer Lane’s mother
- Sean Kay, traveling with his skating coach Alexandr Kirsanov after attending the U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp
- Angela Yang, traveling with his skating coach Alexandr Kirsanov after attending the U.S. Figure Skating’s National Development Camp
- Alexandr Kirsanov, coach of two skating youth on board Sean Kay and Angela Yang
- Brielle Beyer (12), returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas
- Justyna Beyer (42), Brielle’s mother returning from the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas
- Olivia Ter (12), a treasured member of the Tucker Road Ice Rink in Fort Washington, Maryland, was one of four elite skaters from her region to attend the U.S. Figure Skating National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas
- Elizabeth “Liz” Keys (33), a Washington-based attorney who caught an early flight home to go on a date for her birthday with her long-term boyfriend David
- Casey Crafton, father to three sons and husband from Salem, Connecticut
- Grace Maxwell, an engineering student from Wichita, Kansas
- Sarah Lee Best (30), an associate at the Wilkinson Stekloff law firm in the D.C. area
- Jesse Pitcher (30), was on his way home to his wife, Kylie
- Lori Schrock (56)
- Robert “Bob” Schrock (58)
- Fowl Plains Hunting Club in Great Bend, Kansas, wrote on Facebook that seven clients died in the crash.
- Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia announced that multiple victims were former students in the school system
- The United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA) shared on X that five of its members died in the crash.
Here is the latest list of victims identified from the Black Hawk helicopter:
- Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, a Brooksville, Mississippi native
- Crew Chief Ryan O’Hara (28)
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