“My heart is breaking"—Father speaks out after American Airlines pilot Sam Lilley killed in plane crash in DC

Sam Lilley was among the 64 aboard the American Airlines regional jet, which collided with a Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

Unfortunately, there were no survivors, as all 67, including three occupants of the army helicopter, lost their lives in the tragic crash. After the plane crash, Timothy “Tim” Lilley, Sam’s father, penned a Facebook post, sharing his emotions and identifying his son as the first officer of the American Airlines plane. Sam Lilley’s father wrote,

“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot. Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep. I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking. He was doing great in his career and his personal life. He was engaged to get married in the fall. Sam was the First Officer on the flight that crashed in DC last night.”

He concluded,

“It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much.”

Lilley was 28 at the time of the crash and was reportedly “months away” from promotion, as per his father’s interview with the Daily Mail.

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Who was Sam Lilley?

As mentioned, Samuel “Sam” Lilley was the first officer on the PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jet (Flight 5342) which was operating for American Airlines. According to the Daily Mail, Lilley was a native of Savannah, Georgia, and graduated from Georgia Southern University.

After the disaster, Kyle Marrero, Georgia Southern University President, released a statement mourning the death of Lilley:

“The Georgia Southern community is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our outstanding alumni, Sam Lilley (‘18), who embodied the Eagle spirit and soared beyond in his career. We will continue to keep Sam’s family and friends in our thoughts as they grieve this tragedy.

Lilley was initially into marketing and changed his field later, as told by his father to the Daily Mail,

“At first, he went into marketing, and he called me after two months and said, ‘Dad, I hate my job.’ And so I helped him find his new career path – and he was really good at it. His career was really blossoming. Things were very good for him.”

Tim also said that he recently had a chat with his son Sam Lilley, where the latter revealed that he was about to be promoted to Captain soon. The 28-year-old was based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport and had graduated as an airline pilot just over two years back in 2022.

In his interview with the outlet, Tim Lilley said that he saw the crash on the news and was initially unaware that it was his son. However, after watching the report long enough, Timothy had the realization and called his fiancee to confirm,

“And so I called his fiancee, confirmed, like, hey was Sam in Wichita? Yes, he was, was he going to DCA? Yes, he was. So then I had to tell her. It was just an ugly scene.”

Tim Lilley added,

“I was OK for five, maybe 10 minutes. And then I bawled for 10 minutes. It's a bitter, bitter pill to swallow.”

Sam Lilley’s father also told the outlet that he was once a Black Hawk pilot and had even flown in the same area where the aircraft collided. Currently, he is working as a private jet pilot.

Apart from his father, Sam Lilley's sister, Tiffany Gibson, also spoke to ABC News, remembering his brother. She told how Sam was an "amazing person" and "loved people." Gibson added that Lilley loved "adventure" and "traveling," and concluded by saying,

"He was so young, and he was excited about life and his future and getting a dog and a house and kids. And it's just, this is just tragic."

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The Black Hawk helicopter collided with the American Airlines regional jet on Wednesday night

On January 29, 2025, around 09:00 pm, a Black Hawk helicopter collided mid-air with the American Airlines jet piloted by Sam Lilley and Jonathan Campos. Both aircraft fell into the Potomac River, where all aboard were expected to be dead. Shortly after the disaster, 300 first responders reached the crash site, where they have recovered 40 bodies so far, a source told CBS News.