Father of American Airlines Pilot Killed in Crash

On By Littum


Washington:

The 28-year-old pilot from the American Airlines Passenger Plan, who collided with an American army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, looked forward to marrying his fiancé this year, his father said. Sam Lilley was the first officer of the American Airlines Flight 5342.

In an emotional Facebook post, Sam’s father, Timothy Lilley, said he felt proud when his son became a pilot, but “now it hurts so bad that I can’t even cry myself to sleep.”

“I know I want to see him again, but my heart breaks. He thrives in his career and personal life, ”he wrote.

Timothy, a former army helicopter pilot, even shared that Sam was engaged to marry in the fall. “It’s devastating to lose someone so loved,” he wrote.

At the time of the crash, Timothy was in New York for work. He described the moment he realized his son is flying as the crash happened as the worst day of his life. He had a bowel feeling that there was something wrong when Sam, who always checked in, did not.

Talking to Fox News, Timothy, who served as a helicopter pilot for 20 years, remembered to fly in and out of the Pentagon in the 1990s. He explained, “If you fly over the Potomac River at night with night -vision glasses, it is extremely difficult to spot an airplane. Without them it is a little easier but still challenging.” He believes the commercial jet followed proper procedures, but the military helicopter made a tragic mistake.

The collision in the middle of the air took place around 1 p.m. 20.47 est, three miles from the White House and the US capital. The two aircraft crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport and killed all 67 people on board, making it the deadliest US air accident since 2001.

Reports say investigators have regained the black boxes of passenger plane as rescuers pulled bodies from the Potomac River

The American Airlines aircraft flew to the US capital of Wichita, Kansas. It had on board athletes and coaches from the elite arts skating world, including former Russian world pairs -Masters Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.