WICHITA, Kan. — The aviation community continues to mourn after a fatal mid-air crash involving a military helicopter and an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C. earlier this week.
As the director of Wichita‘s Kansas Aviation Museum, Ben Sauceda loves sharing his passion for local history with patrons.
“Just a little under 95 years ago, Wichita took on the moniker of 'The Air Capital of the World,' rightly so because of the history, even within a 10-year period up to that point," said Sauceda.
During the first aviation boom of the 1920s, Wichita had 16 airplane manufacturers, including big names like Cessna, Stearman and Beechcraft.
It’s such a big part of Witchita’s history, it’s the first thing travelers at Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport see as they enter and leave security.
“Wichita is 'The Air Capital of the World' because we are the birthplace of it," said Jesse Romo, airport director. "This is not Photoshop. This is an actual group of all the folks that were working on the first aircraft, and Cessna wanted to show the industry the strength of the aircraft, the wings.”
Fast forward to about a year ago, when the airport got a nonstop flight to the nation’s capital.
"And it was a huge victory for the community," said Romo.
But now, much like the balance those men displayed in that iconic picture from long ago, the small, close-knit aviation community is balancing their pride with a profound sense of shock and sorrow.
"There is a deep tie within our community to aviation and at that closeness realizing that someone I know could have easily been on that flight," said Sauceda.
While so many in that community process their grief and acknowledge this event will be added to Wichita’s history, they also want to remind the public that air travel is still safe.
"We have some of the best and brightest men and women across our country coming from our community as well, who are pilots and manufacturers or engineers, and there is still no safer way to travel than by air," said Sauceda.
Sauceda said they are already working with the city on plans to put a memorial outside the museum to honor the victims and give the community a place to come and pay their respects.
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