Christian University Mourns Student Lost in Deadly D.C. Plane Crash
A student from one of America's largest Christian colleges was among the 64 people who lost their lives when an American Airlines plane collided with a helicopter in Washington, D.C., Wednesday. Grace Maxwell, a junior mechanical engineering major from Wichita, Kan, was a student at Cedarville University in Ohio and was traveling back from her grandfather's funeral when the plane went down in the Potomac. Including the three passengers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter, 67 were killed. Cedarville is a Baptist school.
Thomas White, president of the university, addressed the tragedy in a chapel service Friday.
"I talked to her dad. I said, 'What can we do?' There's no words that make this okay. There's nothing that makes this easier. I can't say anything that takes away your hurt or your pain. He said, 'You're praying people. Pray for us.'"
White joined students and staff in praying for the family.
"Can you imagine losing a parent and seven days later losing a child?" White asked.
"We grieve and we're sad and we don't know why a young, bright shining star was taken from us way too soon, but we know there's a God that will make all things new," White said. "We grieve, but not as those without hope."
The university announced her death in an email Thursday to students.
"Grace was scheduled to serve on a project team this semester that would begin to create a hand-stabilizing device for a differently enabled Dayton boy so he could feed himself rather than relying on others," the email said. "As it says in Psalm 34, 'When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them and is near the brokenhearted.' Our hearts are broken, but we come together as a family knowing the Lord hears our cries and is near us at this very difficult time."
Speaking to the university, White said Maxwell had a deep faith and was mission-minded.
"I can also look at this and say, 'Lord, there was nobody more ready to go see you than Grace Maxwell,'" he said.
She was scheduled to graduate in 2026.
WATCH: Memorial Service Held for Ohio College Student Killed in DC Plane Crash
Photo Credit: ©Facebook/Sefenech Henok
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published January 31, 2025.
