Surrounded by friends, family and regional leaders, a memorial was dedicated Monday at Rivergate City Park in Old Town North to the 67 victims of the mid-air collision near Reagan National Airport on Jan. 29, 2025.
To an audience of victim families, American Airlines staff and regional officials, Audrey Patel played an old happy birthday message from her husband, Vikesh Patel, who was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 5342. Behind Patel at the waterfront stands the memorial, a simple bench with the inscription, “May the 67 lives lost over these waters on January 29, 2025 be forever remembered.”