‘We’re landing in 20’: Husband recalls final text he received from wife before fatal plane crash

WASHINGTON (Gray News) – A husband was waiting to pick up his wife from Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., but she never made it.

Hamaad Raza was waiting for his wife at the airport and said her last text to him read, “We’re landing in 20.”

Raza’s wife was aboard the American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas, that collided with an Army helicopter on Wednesday evening.

Officials said all 64 people aboard the plane were killed, along with the three soldiers in the helicopter, according to the Associated Press.

Raza said he responded to his wife’s last text, prior to knowing she had been in a plane crash.

“Almost there,” he texted back to her.

After not hearing back, he later sent a final text that read, “Haven’t landed yet?”

As he was sitting at the airport, Raza told WUSA that those final texts to his wife did not get delivered.

“I’m just praying that somebody is pulling her out of the river right now,” he told WUSA shortly after the crash, before learning the fate of those on board.

Sadly, officials have said there were no survivors. As of Thursday afternoon, at least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River.

The Black Hawk helicopter appears to have flown into the path of the plane, ignoring a warning from air traffic control 30 seconds before the collision.

The Federal Aviation Administration is continuing to investigate the cause of the crash.

Copyright 2025 Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.