‘Hug your loved ones': DC man mourns wife killed in air crash moments after she texted him (original) (raw)

The husband of a victim of the Potomac crash said his wife texted him that she was about to land, but by the time he got to the airport to pick her up, his life had changed forever.

“She said, ‘We’re landing in 20 minutes,’” Hamaad Raza said.

That was the last thing he heard from his wife, Asra Hussain, who was one of 64 people on board American Airlines Flight 5342, which collided with an Army helicopter as it approached Reagan National Airport Wednesday night.

“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,” Raza said.

Raza watched the massive response from Terminal 2 as hundreds of first responders raced to the rescue.

“It’s just, feels crazy that it happened to us, to be honest,” Raza said. “I mean, it’s like you see these things happen in the news, you see them happen in other countries. And then, I show up to the airport, and my wife’s not responding, and I look on Twitter and I see that it’s her flight.”

He said he’s been surrounded by loved ones who are all devastated by the tragic and unexpected loss.

“Kindest person I’ve ever met,” Raza said about his wife. “She went above and beyond and then took a giant leap over that when it came to doing things for other people, for me, for her parents, for my parents.”

He said he met Hussain in college in Indiana. Now two years after their wedding, he has to plan her funeral.

“Life is short,” Raza said. “Hug your loved ones. Tell them you love them when they’re getting on a flight. Check up on them. Text your family when you land.”

Raza wants to thank all of the first responders, saying he is so grateful for all of their work.