Dozens who died over Washington shared a flight but each had their own story

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The moments Grace Maxwell had shared with her grandfather over the years had been “his greatest joy.” And a trip home to Wichita, Kansas, had allowed the 20-year-old to be by his side one final time. Maxwell, a mechanical engineering major, was returning to college just a day after her grandfather’s funeral when she and 66 others were killed in Wednesday’s collision between an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter over Washington, D.C. One of the victims was a young lawyer from the capital city whose meeting in Wichita ended early enough for her to make a flight back for her birthday celebration. “Can you imagine losing a parent and seven days later losing a child,” Cedarville’s president, Thomas White, told Maxwell’s classmates Friday. “The Crafton family, deeply involved in all things Salem, has suffered an unimaginable loss.” And in Charlotte, North Carolina, friends of Wendy Shaffer struggled to explain the loss of the vivacious mother whose two young sons were her pride and joy.