Dad of DC plane victim Melissa Nicandri recalls her love for travel and Taylor Swift: 'She was kind'

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: One of the victims of the plane disaster in Washington, DC, Melissa Nicandri was "everything you would ever want in a daughter," according to her father, Peter Nicandri.

According to her neighbor, Brooklyn lady Melissa who was on the American Airlines flight that crashed into a military helicopter while on her way to work was "extremely smart," attractive, and hardworking.

According to Peter, his daughter was a longtime Swiftie who had seen Taylor Swift perform "for as long as I can remember," an "extensive" traveler, and someone who "cared deeply for her friends and family."

Melissa Nicandri was on way home from work trip when American Airlines plane crashed

Melissa Nicandri, 28, lost her life when the US Army Black Hawk helicopter struck her American Airlines flight 5342 in midair on Wednesday, January 29, close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Melissa, who lived in Brooklyn with her boyfriend and worked for a financial services company, was one among 60 passengers and four crew members who perished in the flight, which has since become the deadliest aviation disaster in the United States since 2001.

She was returning to New York City at the time from a work trip in Kansas and making a connection in Washington, DC. There were no survivors of the terrible crash.

In an emotional interview with PEOPLE on Saturday, February 1, Melissa's 60-year-old father Peter recalled his daughter as "beautiful, smart, generous, kind and funny."

"She was a great friend to a lot of people. She connected a lot of different friend groups," said Peter, a Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida-based lawyer.

The neighbor of 28-year-old Melissa, who moved into the Brooklyn Heights apartment in 2022, told the New York Post, "I just thought the world of her."

The anonymous woman added, "If we ever had any kind of [issue] in the building, she was on it. She was very assertive, like, ‘We’re going to fix this, we’ll take care of it.’" She remembered that she had last spoken to Melissa in a group chat with another neighbor.

Melissa was one of the 67 people killed in the D.C. tragedy, according to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Melissa's mother, Stacie Nicandri, earlier told Gothamist that her daughter was an "amazing woman."

Melissa Nicandri was a big Taylor Swift fan

According to Peter, Melissa was an avid music lover who had "seen Taylor Swift concert tours dating back since Taylor Swift was touring."

"She saw a couple of the Eras Tour shows in different places, but she's been seeing Taylor Swift for as long as I can remember," Peter recalled.

Peter told PEOPLE that Melissa adored going to Disney World and seeing the world and that she was also a fan of Harry Potter, having grown up loving the books and movies.

"She loved to travel. She traveled extensively. Fortunate enough to be able to do that. Went to a ton of countries, countries I've never been to or even really considered going. But yeah, all over the world," Peter said.

Melissa traveled to England, France, Italy, Greece, South America, Sweden, Denmark, Ireland, and Scotland over her 28 years. She even studied for a semester in Barcelona, Spain.

Melissa's boyfriend, Ben Shtuhl, wrote in a separate message to PEOPLE that she loved living in Brooklyn with him and that she was known to go for a daily walk on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which she referred to as the "prommy."

She even enjoyed exploring New York cuisine, going to Broadway shows, and spending time with a "close-knit group of friends" from Vanderbilt.

She enjoyed attending concerts, and she recently saw Sabrina Carpenter and LCD Soundsystem perform. According to Shtuhi, she enjoyed watching horror movies at Alamo Drafthouse and was "exceptional at trivia" as well.