Daughters of man killed in DC plane crash thought dad would be home when they woke up
Robert Prewitt, 44, was returning from a work trip to his home in Calvert County, Maryland, on Flight 5342 when the plane crashed Wednesday night after a mid-air collision with an Army helicopter on the plane’s approach to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C.
Since 2021, Prewitt had worked as a construction superintendent for The Industrial Company, which is a subsidiary of Kiewit Corp. and has an office in Lenexa, Kansas.
His job involved traveling around the country to work on energy production projects to places like Louisiana and Nevada and Kansas most recently.
“Rob started as an ironworker in 2016,” Kiewit spokesperson Teresa Shada said in an email. “He was a valued team member, and we are focused on supporting his family and colleagues during this difficult time.”
Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, Prewitt, his wife, Belinda, and their two young daughters lived in unincorporated Lusby, Maryland.
Belinda homeschools the girls who are active in cheerleading, according to Allyson Jankowski, owner of Cheer Extreme Calvert and one of four people who organized a Gofundme campaign to help the family with funeral expenses and other financial needs.
“Belinda tucked the girls into bed last night,” Jankowski wrote in her appeal the day after the crash. “They all eagerly awaited his return home. The girls had been raving all week at the gym about ‘daddy coming home from work and would be there when they woke up.’
“Sadly, we all know Robert didn’t make it home to Belinda and the girls.”
Prewitt is also survived by his stepsons Dalton, who is 22, and Dylan, who is 21, as well as another daughter, Aubrie, 18.
He was one of eight men from southern Maryland killed in the crash and who as a group are being mourned in that community with the logo “Southern Maryland Strong.”
The other seven were part of a hunting party that traveled to Kansas to hunt ducks and geese. Killed were Jesse Pitcher, 30; Michael Stovall, 40; Steve Johnson, 45; Alexander Huffman, 34; Charles McDaniel, 44; Jonathan Boyd, 40; and James “Tommy” Clagett, 43.
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 3:46 PM.
