WICHITA, Kan.—Kansas’ largest city was coming off a high this week.

A devastating plane crash this week has drawn Wichita — known as the "air capital of the world" — and its aviation roots into the national spotlight.

A 20-year-old Wichita woman was among the 60 passengers of Flight 5342, her father said. Grace Maxwell, a Wichita native, was on her way back to college when the American Airlines jet collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.

Wichita, Kansas Mayor Lily Wu joins Chris Jansing to react to the deadly crash between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines plane that was flying to Washington, D.C. from Wichita.

Rescuers on a boat work next to the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter, as the sun rises, at the site of the crash after it collided with the American Eagle flight 5342, which wa

Lily Wu, the mayor of Wichita, Kan., where the American Airlines flight originated, said the crash was “a true tragedy.” Other city officials said at the same news conference there was nothing abnormal about the jet’s departure.