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Earlier this week a fatal plane crash right outside of Washington D.C. occurred when an American Airlines flight collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. All 67 passengers on American Airlines flight 5342 sadly lost their lives; among the lives lost was Kiah Duggins, a civil rights attorney and incoming professor at Howard University. Howard University President Ben Vinson III released a statement on Duggins tragic passing.
“It is with profound sadness that the Howard University community and the Howard University School of Law have learned of the passing of Professor Kiah Duggins, who was among those lost in the mid-air plane collision at Reagan National Airport. We ask for privacy and respect for Professor Duggins' family, students, and colleagues during this difficult time,” Dr. Vinson said in a post on X.
Duggins was traveling from Wichita, Kansas, to Washington, D.C., to prepare for her new role as a law professor at Howard University this upcoming fall. She was also a civil rights attorney for the non-profit Civil Rights Corps. As a former Miss Kansas contestant, Duggins tragic passing is felt across the pageant community. Her former pageant director, Larry Strong, spoke about the incident on his personal Facebook page.
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“It is with a heavy heart that the Miss Augusta and Miss Butler County organization just learned that Kiah Duggins, Miss Butler County 2014, 2015, was a passenger in the plane that crashed last evening in Washington, DC. Keep the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. Kiah was a top 10 finalist in 2014 and 2015 at the Miss Kansas Pageant. Kiah was preparing to be a law professor at Howard University in the fall,” Strong wrote in a Facebook post. “Keep the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”
A Harvard University Law School graduate, Duggins excelled in the world of law. Based on her Civil Rights Corps profile, Duggins litigated cases that challenged unconstitutional policing and money bail practices in states including Tennessee, Texas, and Washington D.C. She also earned multiple degrees from Wichita State University.
The cause of the crash is still under investigation. According to several news reports, 28 of the 67 passengers from flight 5342 have been recovered from the Potomac River.
