Last week, an American Airlines plane set for Washington, D.C., from Wichita collided with a Black Hawk Army helicopter. Following the collision, Wichita, and this flight path, have been brought into the national spotlight.
The direct flight from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport wasn’t always in existence. It was created through the work of a Kansas senator, to help connect Wichita’s aerospace industry to the nation’s capital for defense work.
The direct flight from Wichita to Washington, D.C., was lobbied into place by Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran in 2023. Moran’s reasoning behind the flight path was to give federal officials a quicker trip between Wichita and Washington, D.C.
The National Institute of Aviation Research (NIAR), an organization on campus at Wichita State University, provided aid to Sen. Moran’s lobbying efforts.
“We were definitely in touch with Wichita Airport Authority when they were lobbying for that flight,” said Tracee Friess, associate vice president of strategic communication and marketing for Industry and Defense Programs at NIAR. “We worked with them to kind of give them a sense of numbers as far as how many travelers we currently had and expected going back and forth from D.C.”
NIAR, collaborating alongside the United States Department of Defense and Federal Aviation Administration, utilized this flight path a multitude of times since it was put into place.
“There is significant use of that flight among the Wichita State community,” Friess said. “Not only our staff but people that we work with traveling from D.C. to see us. We did have a couple of visitors that were on that flight.”
The victims who met with NIAR that day were confirmed to be Chris Collins, 42, and Melissa Nicandri, 28.
Friess also brought attention to the other numerous companies and organizations in and around Wichita that benefited from this flight path.
Moving forward, the flightpath from Eisenhower Airport to Reagan Airport will continue its operation, but according to The Wichita Eagle, the flight number, 5342, has been retired following the crash. The Wichita to Washington, D.C., flight is now called Flight 5677.