7 March 2023
HARTFORD, Conn. (NewsNation) — Officials have identified the passenger who died after experiencing turbulence on a business jet as a woman who served in prominent posts in two presidential administrations.
Dana Hyde, 55, of Cabin John, Maryland, was onboard the Bombardier executive jet that was traveling from Keene, New Hampshire, to Leesburg, Virginia, on Friday before diverting to Bradley International Airport in Connecticut.
Two other passengers and two crew members were aboard.
The jet’s owner, Conexon, based in Kansas City, Missouri, confirmed in an email that Hyde was the wife of a company partner, Jonathan Chambers, who was also on the plane with his son. Neither father nor son were hurt, the company said.
According to The Washington Post, the family members were returning from a trip to visit schools in New England, Chambers said in an email to employees and clients of Conexon.
Hyde served as counsel for the 9/11 Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, and other posts during a career in Washington, D.C., according to her LinkedIn page.
She served as a special assistant to the president for cabinet affairs and a special assistant to the deputy U.S. attorney general during President Bill Clinton’s administration, and as a senior policy adviser at the State Department and associate director at the Office of Management and Budget during President Barack Obama’s administration, the LinkedIn site indicates.
Serious injuries from airplane turbulence are extremely rare.
Since 2009, 146 people have suffered “serious injuries” from turbulence on airplanes, according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Over the past decade, no single year has seen more than 18 turbulence-related serious injuries. Data shows crew members are the most commonly injured, accounting for about 80% of those hurt in recent years.
NewsNation reporter Andrew Dorn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.