Cedarville University student, Cincinnati native among passengers killed in American Airlines crash

Cedarville University. Contributed

Cedarville University. Contributed

A student at a local university was one of the people who died Wednesday on board the American Airlines flight that crashed with a helicopter in Washington, D.C.

Cedarville University confirmed that Grace Maxwell, a junior majoring in mechanical engineering with a minor in biomedical engineering, was a passenger on the plane, on her way back to campus from her home in Wichita, Kansas.

In a statement to university faculty, staff and students, the university said that its counseling services staff is on standby and that members of its Student Life and Christian Ministries team will be in the Jeremiah Chapel Friday afternoon throughout the day.

The university’s Executive Director of Public Relations Mark D. Weinstein said that Maxwell was known as a thoughtful, quiet student leader, and assisted mechanical engineering faculty as a grader. She was scheduled to serve on a project team this semester that would work on creating a hand-stabilizing device for a Dayton boy so he could feed himself rather than relying on others, Weinstein said.

Weinstein said that university President Thomas White will address the student body about the situation during the all-campus chapel program on Friday in the Dixon Ministry Center.

He added that when he asked Maxwell’s father what to do to help, the father said that the family would appreciate the prayers of the Cedarville community.

The crash between a passenger jet and an Army helicopter at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reportedly left no survivors, killing 67 people. There was no immediate word on the cause of the crash, though it is under investigation by the Air Line Pilots Association and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Also killed in the crash was a Madeira High School grad who worked as an attorney in D.C. is one of the people also killed in the plane crash, according to WCPO.

Cincinnati native Elizabeth Anne Keys, 33, was valedictorian of her high school class before attending Tufts University and Georgetown University Law Center. Her family said Keys worked at Wilkinson Stekloff, a law firm with offices in D.C., at the time of her death.

Her biography for Wilkinson Stekloff says Keys interned for Judge Michael R. Barrett of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio and was a law clerk for Judge Amy Berman Jackson of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Wilkinson Stekloff confirmed to WCPO that Keys was on American Eagle Flight 5342 alongside another attorney at the firm. Her partner, David Seidman, said she was on a work trip at the time of the crash.

“Beyond being an excellent lawyer, Liz brought fearlessness, humor, and sharp wit to work every day no matter the setting or circumstances,” Wilkinson Stekloff said in a statement.

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