Coastal Carolina University student, mother killed in Alaska sightseeing plane crash
A Coastal Carolina University student who “excelled in every way imaginable, both inside and outside the classroom,” according to one of her professors, was killed in a plane crash in Alaska last week.
According to reports by The Associated Press, Rachel McArthur, 20, of Woodstock, Georgia, was among six people killed in the crash of a sightseeing plane on Thursday.
CCU Associate Vice President and Chief Communication Officer Martha Hunn confirmed Tuesday night that McArthur was a current junior at the school majoring in Intelligence and National Security Studies.
Dr. Joseph Fitsanakis, CCU Professor of Intelligence and Security Studies, said Rae, as she was called at the school, is the only freshman to ever receive the prestigious Intelligence Award through the program’s flagship pre-professional initiative, the Chanticleer Intelligence Brief, “in recognition of her constant improvement, dedication and hard work in the field of intelligence.”
Fitsanakis said McArthur was also a published author in the area of immigration and security, and an active member of Women in Intelligence and National Security (WINS), a student-led organization that seeks to educate, assist and empower its female and male members in the intelligence field and affiliated professions.
Over the past year, McArthur was helping produce analytical products on criminal activity for use by law enforcement in Horry County through CCU’s Coastal Law Enforcement Analysis and Research (CLEAR) initiative.
“Rae’s absence will leave a huge hole in what we do here in the Intelligence program at CCU, both in terms of her academic presence — which was remarkable — but also her personality and charisma,” Fitsanakis said. “She was a role model for many of her fellow students, and the kind of person that gives meaning to what we, as professors at CCU, do day in and day out.”
According to CCU online records, McArthur was on the President’s Honors List for the fall 2020 semester — indicating she earned a GPA of 4.0 on a minimum of 12 grade hours.
“Coastal Carolina University President Michael Benson, the Board of Trustees, and university leaders express our deepest condolences to Rachel’s family and friends,” the university said in a statement Tuesday night.
McArthur’s mother, Andrea, 55, who worked as a flight attendant for Delta for more than 30 years, according to a report by the 11Alive NBC television station in Atlanta, was also killed in the crash.
Davis McArthur, identified by 11Alive as the son and brother of Andrea and Rachel, said they both loved helping others above anything else.
According to The AP, the U.S. Coast Guard said the plane’s emergency signal was activated around 11:20 a.m. Thursday, a passing helicopter saw the wreckage and members of the Coast Guard found the wreckage around 2:40 p.m. The AP reported there were no survivors.
The crash happened 12 miles northeast of Ketchikan in southeast Alaska, according to the AP, which reported the plane’s five passengers were on an excursion off a Holland America Line cruise ship to the Misty Fjords National Monument.
The other passengers who died, according to the AP, were Mark Henderson, 69, and Jacquelyn Komplin, 60, both of Napa, California; and Janet Kroll, 77, of Mount Prospect, Illinois. The pilot was identified as Rolf Lanzendorfer, 64, of Cle Elum, Washington.
Rachel McArthur completed an internship with the Roswell Police Department in Georgia in July, according to a post on the department’s Facebook page.
The department posted: “It was immediately apparent to all around her that Rae was aspirational, motivated and determined to reach her goals. . . . We grieve her loss with our community today, and will miss her dearly.”
Professor Fitsanakis’ full tribute to Rachel McArthur provided to The Sun News reads:
“From the moment she joined the Intelligence and Security Studies program at CCU, Rachel, or “Rae”, as we all called her, became an integral part of our activities. Our program is highly competitive and prepares students for careers in some of our government’s most high-powered agencies, including the FBI, the NSA and the CIA. But Rae was not one to be intimidated by competition, and she excelled in every way imaginable, both inside and outside the classroom. To this day, she remains the only freshman to receive the prestigious Intelligence Award by our program’s flagship pre-professional initiative, the Chanticleer Intelligence Brief (CIB), in recognition of her constant improvement, dedication and hard work in the field of intelligence. She was also a published author in the area of immigration and security, and an active member of Women in Intelligence and National Security (WINS). In the past year, Rae was helping produce analytical products on criminal activity for use by law enforcement in Horry County through our program’s Coastal Law Enforcement Analysis and Research (CLEAR) initiative. Additionally, she was completing an internship with the Roswell Police Department in Roswell, Georgia, while also focusing on research in Languages and Intercultural Studies, as well as in Criminology, two areas in which she was minoring at CCU.
Given the above, Rae’s absence will leave a huge hole in what we do here in the intelligence program at CCU, both in terms of her academic presence — which was remarkable — but also her personality and charisma. She was a role model for many of her fellow students, and the kind of person that gives meaning to what we, as professors at CCU, do day in and day out. Rae came to us in pursuit of her dream to work for the United States government and help make this country safer for everyone. We will continue to work toward that goal, driven by admiration and respect for Rae’s unique legacy. May she rest in peace, and may the surviving members of her family find comfort in the knowledge that she touched us all in a unique way while she was with us. We will not forget her.”
This story was originally published August 10, 2021 at 6:19 PM.
