A White House official from Barack Obama's presidency died on Friday from serious turbulence while flying back to Maryland in a private plane, authorities confirmed Monday.
Dana Hyde, who worked as an associate director for the White House Office of Management and Budget during the Obama administration, was flying back from New England with her husband and son when the plane experienced turbulence. Hyde served as a senior policy adviser to the State Department before her tenure in the White House.
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The plane, a Bombardier CL30 jet, departed from Dillant-Hopkins Airport in Keene, New Hampshire, and was diverted to the Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, around 4 p.m. on Friday. The plane was diverted after “encountering severe turbulence,” the Federal Aviation Administration said.
Hyde was transported to a hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, where she was pronounced dead from blunt force injuries. Her death was the only fatality, but others were injured. Hyde's husband, son, and two crew members were on board at the time.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the turbulence and a trim issue that happened before the turbulence. Last year, the FAA instructed pilots flying this model of aircraft to take extra pre-flight measures after trim problems had been reported, according to the Associated Press.
"Investigators are now looking at a reported trim issue that occurred prior to the inflight upset," the NTSB tweeted Monday. "They will continue to learn more after they analyze information from the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and other sources of information like weather data."
UPDATE: Investigators are now looking at a reported trim issue that occurred prior to the inflight upset. They will continue to learn more after they analyze information from the flight data recorder, cockpit voice recorder and other sources of information like weather data. https://t.co/CSDnZoHqsz
— NTSB Newsroom (@NTSB_Newsroom) March 6, 2023
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Hyde's funeral will take place in Israel, which she particularly loved, her husband Jonathan Chambers said in an email to his company Conexon, which owned the jet. Chambers is a partner with the company.
“Dana was the best person I ever knew,” Chambers wrote in the email. “She was a wonderful mother to our boys and she was accomplished professionally. She loved and was beloved.”