It was a shock to many People final week when American Airways Flight 5342 and a U.S. Military Blackhawk helicopter collided in midair inflicting each plane to plunge into the icy Potomac River alongside Reagan Nationwide Airport within reach of Washington, D.C. Sixty-four folks on the jet and three within the helicopter have been all killed. It was the primary deadly passenger plane crash in the US since 2009. Whereas crews proceed to work to retrieve the entire wreckage for the FAA investigation, the Unified Command reported yesterday that every one 67 of the our bodies have been recovered.
Amongst every particular person tragedy there have been a number of teams of individuals with whom the tragedy has significantly reverberated: the ice skating neighborhood and the searching neighborhood. Among the many passengers on the aircraft have been 14 members of the U.S. Determine Skating group together with opponents and coaches, in addition to their members of the family. Amongst one other group of passengers have been seven associates from southern Maryland, who have been returning residence from their annual duck and goose searching journey with Fowl Plains Outfitters in Nice Bend, Kansas.
Tragedy Rocks the Searching Neighborhood
The lack of the seven hunters has hit the waterfowling neighborhood significantly exhausting. In any case, how many people have boarded a aircraft for a hunt or different thrilling journey by no means even contemplating we’d not make it residence. And on this journey, the aircraft was on the ultimate method, solely a number of hundred toes within the air, when tragedy struck. Amongst waterfowling circles within the East of Virginia and Maryland, a number of of the boys have been well-known and really a lot favored. They have been coming back from their hunt with Fowl Plains Outfitters in Nice Bend, Kansas, a extremely regarded information service that delivers world-class duck and goose searching within the central plains of Kansas. I’ve been there the previous two years, most lately in early December and flew out of Wichita for one more DC-area airport, Dulles. The searching there may be wonderful, the outfitters great and succesful folks, the meals past spectacular and secure flights to and from such locations are one thing we’ve come to take without any consideration. It’s a reminder nothing on this life is assured.
Fowl Plains expressed their grief on Instagram following the crash, posting:
We’ve all the time stated our shoppers are greater than associates. They’re household. Final night time we misplaced 7 members of the family within the horrific aircraft crash. 7 members of the family we’ve had the privilege to hunt with the previous few years.
We’ve spent this previous week, sharing the blind, laughing, speaking about our households, and sharing recollections. We’re utterly heartbroken. Please pray for the households, associates and for our 3 different hunters within the group who have been driving residence.
Heartbroken is an understatement.
Remembering the Victims
Amongst these hunters killed within the crash included Michael “Mikey” Stovall, 40, and Jesse Pitcher, 30. Stovall’s mom, Christina Stovall, described her son as “the happiest individual,” a person who “noticed good in everyone.” Pitcher had lately married and was within the technique of constructing a house, his father, Jameson Pitcher, informed The New York Occasions.
4 of the hunters have been members of Steamfitters UA Native 602, a Washington, D.C.-based union. The union didn’t launch any names on the time of their submit however expressed, “Our hearts are heavy with grief.”
In keeping with Outside Life, the opposite 5 hunters who died within the crash along with Stovall and Pitcher have been Jonathan “Jon” Boyd, 40; Tommy Clagett, 38; Alexander “Alex” Huffman, 34; Steve Johnson, 45; and Charles “Charlie” McDaniel, 44.
Serving to the Households
The out of doors neighborhood has shortly rallied to assist the households of the hunters misplaced within the crash by means of the institution of a GoFundMe and a pair of high-end raffles.
The GoFundMe fundraiser has already introduced in additional than $211,000 in only a week with prime donations from corporations like Kody Holdings, an auto group in Waldorf, Maryland, that donated $10,000 and different out of doors corporations and organizations reminiscent of Benelli that donated $1,000, GSM Outdoor $5,000, Fred’s Outdoor $7,000, Southern Maryland Delta Waterfowl $4,500, Black Swamp Bucks $1,000 and others. Up to now, the fundraiser has introduced in additional than 1,300 whole donations to go towards serving to the households.
Southern Oak Kennels and Fowl Plains, the clothing store the place the hunters final hunted, are each providing raffles to boost further funds for the households.
Fowl Plains is providing an all-inclusive three-day Kansas goose hunt at their lodge. The hunt will happen in February 2026, the state’s prime goose searching season, and contains three days of searching, lodging, meals and drinks for the winner and 9 associates. That’s a worth of a minimum of $26,000. Every entry into the raffle is barely $100 and for every $100 spent, the client could have one other likelihood entered into the drawing. Entries can be found till 8 p.m. CST on February 14. A winner might be drawn from the pool of entries on the night of February 15.
The raffle web page on BetterWorld.org states: “The proceeds from every entry offered will go on to the households of seven males who tragically died within the crash of PSA Airways Flight 5342. These males have been touring residence from goose searching at Fowl Plains, and your complete Fowl Plains household is mourning the lack of these associates. Our hope is that this fundraiser will assist these households in a tangible method as they proceed to heal from such a horrible loss.”
Southern Oak Kennels (SOK), headquartered in Guntown, Mississippi, and with eight places all through the higher Midwest, East and South, is a premier canine breeder and coach that focuses on creating high-quality British Labrador retrievers who excel within the subject in addition to the house. Their raffle will increase funds for the household of Mikey Stovall, who had a retriever bred and educated from SOK’s Nice Lakes location in East Leroy, Michigan. SOK is raffling a package deal that features a pet from British Area Trial Champion “Ozzy” and SOK-bred Grand Hunt Retriever Champion “Rose,” three months of coaching at SOK Nice Lakes, a membership to Cornerstone Gundog Academy’s Full Retriever Package deal and a Gunner Kennel.” Like the opposite raffle, entries are $100 every and might be obtainable till 8 p.m. CST on February 14 with a winner drawn the next night of February 15.
Nothing can substitute the lack of these males to their households or associates or for themselves, whose lives have been minimize method too quick, however by contributing to those nice fundraisers, your {dollars} will go a good distance in serving to the households heal and have the ability to transfer ahead in such an unimaginable state of affairs.
