Passenger jet with 64 aboard collides with Army helicopter while landing at Reagan Airport near DC

AP headline – January 30, 2025

Quarterly Activity Report by SCI President and Executive Director, the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt – February 2025

When I first heard the news of the mid-air collision near Washington, DC, I was on my way back to my hotel, having just had dinner with Board Chair Mark Knoy and Assistant CME Director Kelly Butts. Similar to hearing the news of the allision between the M/V Dali and the Francis Scott Key Bridge a year earlier, I did not foresee SCI playing a role in responding to this tragic event. But while I was unaware of a role for SCI in this aviation disaster, the maritime community’s understanding of SCI’s scope and expertise was not so limited. The next day, SCI was contacted by a ship operator whose mariners were assisting with the search and rescue and, later, recovery efforts to retrieve the 67 bodies of the victims. Moreover, unlike the Dali incident when representatives from Britannia P&I reached out directly to me at SCI’s Headquarters, this request for help in DC was made to one of SCI’s MOR Chaplains.

So, how did this come to be? This is a story of how SCI has earned its reputation within the industry. Many years ago, Chaplain Kempton Baldridge, our Paducah-based MOR Chaplain at the time, established a relationship with the American Queen Steamboat Company. Their paddlewheel riverboats sailed the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and SCI’s Chaplains began visiting their vessels. SCI Chaplains even staffed these boats, providing on-board chaplaincy during the Christmas and Easter holidays. Over time, American Queen became part of the Hornblower Group, which filed for bankruptcy in February 2024. By July 2024, Hornblower emerged from bankruptcy under a new identity as City Cruises, focusing primarily on sightseeing and ferry operations. Throughout all these transitions, one human resource professional—who had started her career with American Queen—was now overseeing HR for City Cruises.

When the U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet over the Potomac on January 29, the crash site was near City Cruises’ Washington, DC operations. The USCG and NTSB chose to use City Cruises’ Inner Harbor Spirit as the command center. The vessel’s crew, typically engaged in sightseeing and dinner cruises, found themselves serving the USCG, NTSB, fire and police personnel, as well as other recovery workers—standing 12-hour watches. Concerned about the mounting stress on her mariners, the HR Director reached out to an old contact from her time with American Queen.

The number she dialed was answered by Chaplain Geoffrey Davis, SCI Chaplain for the Lower Mississippi & Gulf Region. The HR Director asked if Geoff would be willing to travel to the crash site to support City Cruises’ mariners. After consulting with Chaplain David Shirk and me—and with City Cruises offering to cover all expenses—Geoff packed his gear, flew to DC, and spent the next two days meeting with the crew as they rotated on and off the Inner Harbor Spirit. Geoff’s background as a mariner, combined with his pastoral training and compassionate ministry, provided a much-needed outlet for the crew. He offered a listening ear for those who had heard disturbing stories from the divers and witnessed the trauma of seeing body parts and debris being recovered.

Once again, SCI was called upon to step in and serve in the wake of a crisis. The trust placed in SCI was built from the ground up—what Kempton often referred to as the “deck plate” level. Whether responding to the families of the crew of the El Faro, the seafarers stuck aboard the Dali, or the mariners of the Inner Harbor Spirit, SCI’s Strategic Plan is clear: we must always be ready to respond, wherever and whenever we’re needed, to provide support to mariners in need.