The grieving father of the 28-year-old American Airlines Pilot calls for stricter regulations in the aftermath of the devastating collision for the air near Washington, DC
Sam Lilley was the first officer on flight 5342 of the American Airlines when a Black Hawk helicopter of an American army Sikorsky UH-60 collided with the plane, causing the two aircraft to dive into the Potomac river in the on January 29 River De Potomac. .
All 67 people on board both aircraft were killed, making it the deadliest air disaster in the country since 2001.
“(Sam) did great in his career,” Timothy Lilley, a former Army helicopter pilotFox News Digital told. “He did great in his personal life, he was ready to get married.”
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On this photo shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot who died at Fatal American Airlines Flight 5342, smiles from the cockpit of an airplane. (Timothy Lilley)
Timothy Lilley had for 20 years in the army -flying Black Hawk -Helikopters – the same plane that collided with the plane that flew his son – before he existed medical helicopters and later came to a regional airline.
All three parts of my world collided that night on the Potomac.
Timothy uses his experience in the aftermath of the death of his son Relocation to legislators And military officials to introduce change promise that part of Sam’s inheritance will be aviation safety.
Now he asks the army to stop flight activities at civil airports, refurbishment training for pilots and requires that aircraft have an operational traffic warning and collision avoidance system (TCAS) in the airspace of class B.
Wreckage from American Airlines Flight 5342 will be removed from the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Monday 3 February 2025. The plane collided on Wednesday 29 January with a Black Hawk helicopter in the US Army, killing 67 people. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Currently, military planes are not allowed to be equipped with TCAs while flying in class B air space, which according to Lilley exists the largest civil airports in the country.
“It has been said, and it is true that most aviation regulations are written in blood, “Lilley said.” That means that something terrible must be done to make a change. “
Lilley is planning to testify for the congress and said that a high -level army officials have been receptive to his suggestions, so that the road is cleared for a future of safer skies.
Crew the Wreckage of American Airlines Flight 5342 in the Potomac River near Washington, DC, on January 30, 2025. The plane was involved in a fatal collision with a Black Hawk helicopter in the US Army the previous night. (Leigh Green for Fox News Digital)
Lilley believes that Sam’s passion for flying grew from looking at him like a pilot.
After obtaining a degree in marketing and logistics from Georgia Southern UniversitySam shifted to aviation. He started with the flight training in 2019, received his commercial license the following year and became a flight instructor. Two years before the crash he started flying for the regional airline of American Airlines, PSA.
“If he stayed with PSA long enough, he would end up at American Airlines,” Lilley said. “He wanted to become an international captain and fly the 777s to Europe and Asia.”
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On this photo shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot who died at Fatal American Airlines Flight 5342, a career performance. (Timothy Lilley)
Sam was also engaged to his old girlfriend, Lydia, and the two were planning to found a family. The day before his death, Sam’s mother wedding location went for the couple, planned for the ceremony for autumn.
The dreams of Sam, however, were stopped when the plane and the helicopter dived into the icy Potomac on January 29.
On this photo shared by Timothy Lilley, Sam Lilley, the co-pilot who died at Fatal American Airlines Flight 5342, to his girlfriend, says Lydia. (Timothy Lilley)
Timothy Lilley was inside New York City For the work at the time of the crash, which initially saw reports of the incident on the news.
“I realized that there had been a plane crash, which of course aroused my interest,” Lilley said. “But the chance that it was Sam was one and a million.”
When Lilley realized that the plane was owned by PSA, he stuck out to Sam but never heard back and confirmed it unthinkable.
That was heartbreaking, it was just heartbreaking.
Lilley traveled to the site of the tragedy and began to merge, which ensured that Sam’s aircraft crashed, but many of his questions remain unanswered.
Researchers work on retrieving data from the black box of the helicopter, which sustained water damage during recovery efforts. Audio recordings of Sam’s plane confirmed that the pilots were trying to avoid the impact.
“The crew had a verbal response,” said Brice Banning, the manager NTSB researcher.
The data recorder on the plane shows “the plane that is starting to increase its pitch,” said Banning. “Sounds of Impact were audible about a second later, followed by the end of the recording.”
View: Researchers Search DC Plane Crash Wreckage
A complete investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board can take up to a year, but the authorities hope to have a provisional report within 30 days. Researchers also investigate the possibility that the airport control tower was not fully staffed at the time of the crash.
Until the investigation concludes, the families of victims can only speculate about the collision that their loved ones killed. Lilley, as a former Black Hawk pilot who flew the same Potomac route “hundreds of times”, believes that he can offer a unique perspective.
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“There are hundreds of things that could have go wrong there,” Lilley said. “Maybe both pilots had their heads down and they immediately looked at the radio, maybe they thought that another plane was, maybe they saw lights on the floor and thought it was the plane, maybe they followed an emergency procedure training And they were distracted with that.
Sam Lilley was the pilot of the American Airlines plane who collided on January 29, 2025 with a Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, DC. (Timothy Lilley)
Despite the tragedy, Lilley finds peace among the families of the other victims and by honoring his son.
Lilley told Fox News Digital that are local Georgia community has gathered around their family, senting his company a private jet to transport the lovers from Sam to the site of the crash.
“There were 67 people who lost their lives, and there were families who had new widows and new orphans and who lost two children and Olympic hopeful and high -calmed lawyers,” said Lilley. “Every person involved in this accident, I would like to be friends – both in the Black Hawk and in the (plane).”
He is also looking for ways to honor his son, including the insistence on the safety of aviation and getting a tattoo in memory of Sam.
Timothy Lilley shows the tattoo he received in honor of his son, Sam Lilley, who died in Fatal American Airlines Flight 5342. (Timothy Lilley)
PSA Airlines has awarded Sam posthumously with the title of Honorary Captain, Say in a statement That “the title not only reflects his technical expertise, but also the in -depth impact he had on our airline.”
American Airlines did not immediately respond to FOX News Digital’s request for comments.
“It is a tragedy, these lives ended well before one of us was ready,” Lilley told Fox News Digital.
