Who is professor Kiah Duggins? Howard University pays tribute to victim in DC plane crash

An aspiring HBCU professor and civil rights attorney named Kiah Duggins has been identified as one of the victims of the mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an army Black Hawk helicopter.

The crash took place over the Potomac River on Wednesday night and has since been described as the deadliest airline disaster to take place in the nation in the last two decades, having claimed all 67 lives of the people onboard.

Kiah Duggins was a litigator in areas pertaining to unconstitutional policing and money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C. In the past, she worked with the ACLU of Northern California and Neufeld, Scheck, and Brustin LLP. During her tenure as a Law 4 Black Lives fellow, she studied prison industrial complex abolition and movement lawyering.

Duggins earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she was also named the president of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. As for her bachelor's degree, she earned it from Wichita State University. She also completed a Fulbright grant in Taiwan. She was also a former Miss Kansas contestant.

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All we know about Kiah Duggins and why she was aboard the doomed jet

At the time of the crash, Kiah Duggins was inbound from Wichita, Kansas, toward Washington, D.C. She was reportedly anticipating the onset of her tenure as a law professor at Howard University this fall. Her pageant director Larry Strong took to Facebook to pen about the same:

"It is with a heavy heart that the Miss Augusta and Miss Butler County organization just learned that Kiah Duggins Miss Butler County 2014, 2015 was a passenger in the plane that crashed last evening in Washington DC. Keep the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time. Kiah was top 10 finalist in 2014 and 2015 at the Miss Kansas Pageant. Kiah was preparing to be a law professor at Howard University in the fall. Keep the rest of the family in your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”

Howard University also took to Facebook to issue a statement in the wake of her passing:

"It is with profound sadness that the Howard University of Law and the broader Howard University community have learned of the passing of Professor Kiah Duggins, who was among those lost in the mid-air plane collision at Reagan National Airport. Professor Duggins was set to begin a new chapter as a professor at Howard University School of Law this fall. As a civil rights lawyer, she dedicated her career to fighting against unconstitutional policing and unjust money bail practices in Tennessee, Texas and Washington, D.C. We ask for privacy and respect for Professor Duggins’ family, students, and colleagues during this difficult time. Plans to honor her legacy will be shared in coming days. We encourage our community to seek any support they may need. Those resources can be found on the graphic…”

At the time of the crash, the American Airlines jet was trying to make a landing at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport around 9 p.m. However, it collided with the Army Black Hawk helicopter, leaving all 67 passengers dead. The flight had 60 passengers and 4 crew, while the army aircraft had 3 soldiers aboard.

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As of Thursday afternoon, per CNN, at least 40 bodies have been recovered, though search and rescue efforts are still ongoing. Investigations into the incident have also commenced.