The regreting papa of the 28-year-old American Airlines pilot is asking for extra stringent insurance policies following the harmful midair accident close to Washington, D.C.
Sam Lilley was the preliminary police officer on American Airlines Flight 5342 when a UNITED STATE Army Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter rammed the plane, triggering each airplane to dive proper into the Potomac River all through the plane’s descent proper into Ronald Reagan International Airport onJan 29.
All 67 people aboard each airplane had been eradicated, making it the nation’s most harmful air disaster contemplating that 2001.
“[Sam] was doing great in his career,” Timothy Lilley, a earlier Army helicopter pilot, knowledgeableFox News Digital “He was doing great in his personal life, he was set to be married.”
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In this image shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot that died on lethal American Airlines Flight 5342, grins from the cabin of an plane. (Timothy Lilley)
Timothy Lilley supplied 20 years within the Army flying Black Hawk helicopters– the exact same airplane that rammed the plane his child was flying– previous to piloting medical helicopters and in a while signing up with an area airline firm.
All 3 parts of my globe clashed over the Potomac that night.
In the wake of his child’s fatality, Timothy is leveraging his expertise to contact legislators and armed forces authorities to move adjustment, guaranteeing that part of Sam’s heritage will definitely be aeronautics safety.
Now he’s asking the armed forces to cease journey procedures at non-public airport terminals, spruce up coaching for pilots and name for airplane to have a useful Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) whereas inside Class B airspace.
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Wreckage from American Airlines Flight 5342 is drawn from the Potomac River close to Ronald Reagan National Airport on Monday, February 3, 2025. The plane rammed a UNITED STATE Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, January 29, eliminating 67 people. (Tom Williams/ CQ-Roll Call, Inc utilizing Getty Images)
Currently, armed forces airplane are usually not referred to as for to be furnished with TCAS when flying in Class B airspace, which consists of the most important non-public airport terminals throughout the nation, in line withLilley
“It’s been said, and it is true, that most aviation regulations are written in blood,” Lilley claimed. “That means that something terrible has to happen for us to make a change.”
Lilley is intending to point earlier than Congress and claimed that top-level Army authorities have truly been aware of his concepts, main the best way for a way forward for safer skies.
Crew get well wreck of American Airlines Flight 5342 within the Potomac River close to Washington, D.C, on January 30, 2025. The plane was related to a lethal accident with a UNITED STATE Army Black Hawk helicopter the earlier night. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
Lilley thinks that Sam’s curiosity for flying expanded from having fun with him as a pilot.
After making a stage in promoting and logistics from Georgia Southern University, Sam moved to aeronautics. He started journey coaching in 2019, obtained his enterprise certificates the checklist beneath 12 months and ended up being a visit coach. Two years previous to the collision, he began flying for American Airlines’ native airline firm, PSA.
“If he stayed at PSA long enough, he was going to end up at American Airlines,” Lilley claimed. “He wanted to be an international captain and fly the 777s to Europe and Asia.”
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In this image shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot that died on lethal American Airlines Flight 5342, commemorates a career success. (Timothy Lilley)
Sam was likewise concerned to his veteran companion, Lydia, and each had been intending on starting a relations. The day previous to his fatality, Sam’s mother went wedding ceremony celebration place trying to find the pair, with the occasion arrange for the loss.
However, Sam’s wishes had been stopped when the airplane and helicopter clashed, diving proper into the icy Potomac onJan 29.
In this image shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot that died on lethal American Airlines Flight 5342, suggests to his companion, Lydia. (Timothy Lilley)
Timothy Lilley remained in New York City for function for the time being of the collision, initially seeing information of the incidence on the data.
“I realized there had been a plane crash, which, of course, sparked my interest,” Lilley claimed. “But the chance of it being Sam was one and a million.”
When Lilley acknowledged the plane was possessed by PSA, he related to Sam nonetheless by no means ever listened to again, verifying the unimaginable.
That was heart-wrenching, it was merely heart-wrenching.
Lilley took a visit to the web site of the misfortune and began assembling what had truly created Sam’s plane to collision, nonetheless a lot of his considerations proceed to be unanswered.
Investigators are functioning to get well info from the helicopter’s black field, which endured water damages all through recuperation initiatives. Audio recordings from Sam’s airplane validated that the pilots tried to flee affect.
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“The crew had a verbal reaction,” Brice Banning, NTSB detective accountable, claimed.
The info recorder throughout the airplane applications “the airplane beginning to increase its pitch,” in line withBanning “Sounds of impact were audible about one second later, followed by the end of the recording.”
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A complete National Transportation Safety Board examination can use as much as a 12 months, nonetheless authorities are wishing to have an preliminary report inside thirty day. Investigators are likewise checking into the chance that the flight terminal’s management tower was not fully staffed on the time of the collision.
Until the examination ends, victims’ households can simply hypothesize regarding the accident that eradicated their loved ones. Lilley, as a earlier Black Hawk pilot that flew the exact same Potomac course “hundreds of times,” thinks he can present a definite viewpoint.
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“There are hundreds of things that could have gone wrong in there,” Lilley claimed. “Maybe both pilots had their heads down looking at the radio at once, maybe they thought a different aircraft was that one, maybe they saw lights on the ground and thought it was the aircraft, maybe they were doing an emergency procedure training, and they were distracted by that. I don’t know what happened in that cockpit.”
Sam Lilley was the pilot of the American Airlines plane that rammed a Black Hawk helicopter close to Washington, D.C., on January 29, 2025. (Timothy Lilley)
Despite the misfortune, Lilley is finding tranquility amongst the households of the assorted different victims and by recognizing his child.
Lilley knowledgeable Fox News Digital that his neighborhood Georgia space has truly rallied round their family, together with his enterprise sending out a private jet to transportation Sam’s loved ones to the web site of the collision.
“There were 67 people who lost their lives, and there were families there that had new widows and new orphans and who lost two children and Olympic hopefuls and high-caliber lawyers,” Lilley claimed. “Every single person involved in this accident, I’d want to be friends with – both in the Black Hawk and in the [airplane].”
He is likewise looking for strategies to acknowledge his child, consisting of selling aeronautics safety and acquiring a tattoo in remembrance ofSam
Timothy Lilley reveals the tattoo he obtained to acknowledge his child, Sam Lilley, that died on lethal American Airlines Flight 5342. (Timothy Lilley)
PSA airline corporations has truly posthumously granted Sam with the title of honorary captain, saying in a statement that “the title reflects not only his technical expertise but also the profound impact he had on our airline family.”
American Airlines didn’t promptly reply to Fox News Digital’s ask for comment.
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“It’s a tragedy, these lives ended way before any of us were ready for it,” Lilley knowledgeable Fox News Digital.
