Edmond woman honors late friend and OSU colleague lost in D.C. plane crash

The country continues to mourn the 67 people killed in Wednesday’s plane crash in Washington D.C. Oklahomans remembered an OSU graduate and former faculty member who was on the American Airlines flight. Lindsey Fields’s college mentor shared the impact she left on countless people. 

Photos capture the smiles and freeze the memories. A lot of emotions rested on the table at Betsey Weaver’s Edmond home after she got the news. 

“Her students love her, her community loves her,” Weaver said. “She was fun. She was one of a kind.” 

Oklahoma State lost a former student and leader. Weaver lost her friend.  

“Great smile. Great personality – great friend,” she said. 

Fields was on her way to Washington D.C., but her flight never made it to the runway. According to CBS News, sixty passengers and four Charlotte-based crew members were on American Eagle flight 5342 on its way from Wichita, Kansas. Three crew members were aboard the Black Hawk helicopter when they collided a little before 9 p.m. on Wednesday. 

Weaver was Fields's college mentor and the two formed a special bond around 2006. The fact Fields became a teacher in higher education brings Weaver peace. 

“You never think that’s the last time. The flip side of that is she made a mark,” Weaver said. “She was the president-elect of her association that she was traveling to. You just knew that she was special.” 

Weaver led the campus women’s auxiliary group within the OSU football program. That’s where she met Fields. 

“They were called orange pride,” Weaver said. “That’s when it all first started. She’s calm and mature. I could always count on Lindsey.” 

College manufactures degrees and lifelong relationships. 

“They loved me, and they respected me, but they also wanted me to be a part of their group. I felt included. I felt loved,” Weaver said. 

Weaver thought about Fields’s daughter and the family she left behind. 

“I just can’t imagine,” Weaver said. “She’s gonna be able to Google her mom's name one day and this what they’ll see.” 

Weaver hopes people can search Fields’s name and learn about the light she shined on the world. 

“Wish she coulda been here longer and made more of those memories,” Weaver said. “Look how she lived her life and let’s focus on that. She’s the perfect example of, ‘You never know. Keep trying.’ That’s the legacy.”