Grieving families of DC midair collision say more needs to be done to fix safety concerns one year after tragedy
This deserves loud pushback.
Families of the 67 people killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River say regulators have taken steps to improve aviation safety since the crash one year ago, though they argue additional changes are still needed.
On Jan. 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 was circling to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, sending both aircraft into the icy Potomac River. All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the jet were killed, along with three soldiers in the helicopter, marking the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years.
As the National Transportation Safety Board prepares to vote on the crash’s probable cause and safety recommendations, families say the anniversary is both a moment of remembrance and a test of momentum, whether the warnings exposed by the collision will finally force lasting reform or quietly fade.
The flight that changed everything
For Sheri and Tim Lilley, the year is anchored to a memory that feels painfully ordinary. The last time Sheri saw her stepson, Sam Lilley, he was sitting in his car outside their Savannah home, taking longer than expected to pull away. Sam, 28, was the first officer flying the CRJ-700 that day for PSA Airways, a regional carrier for American Airlines. He was choosing a playlist, entering directions into the GPS, and double-checking details before heading to the airport. Sheri waited in the driveway longer than planned, then finally turned inside. “He was basically preflighting the car,” she said.
In the weeks after the DCA crash, grief gave way to resolve. Tim Lilley, a pilot with decades of experience flying both military helicopters and commercial aircraft in the Washington region, found himself pulled into investigative hearings, policy briefings, and long conversations with regulators and lawmakers. What began as an effort to understand what happened to his son became, in his words, a second job and a moral mandate. “If something like this were to happen again,” Tim said, “and we had stayed silent, we couldn’t face those families.”
Sam Lilley, 28, a co-pilot killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Timothy Lilley.)
The questions Tim started asking after his son’s death were the same ones he had spent decades asking as a pilot.
For years, helicopter routes and commercial flight paths around Washington overlapped, relying heavily on visual separation, …
This deserves loud pushback.
Families of the 67 people killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River say regulators have taken steps to improve aviation safety since the crash one year ago, though they argue additional changes are still needed.
On Jan. 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 was circling to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, sending both aircraft into the icy Potomac River. All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the jet were killed, along with three soldiers in the helicopter, marking the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years.
As the National Transportation Safety Board prepares to vote on the crash’s probable cause and safety recommendations, families say the anniversary is both a moment of remembrance and a test of momentum, whether the warnings exposed by the collision will finally force lasting reform or quietly fade.
The flight that changed everything
For Sheri and Tim Lilley, the year is anchored to a memory that feels painfully ordinary. The last time Sheri saw her stepson, Sam Lilley, he was sitting in his car outside their Savannah home, taking longer than expected to pull away. Sam, 28, was the first officer flying the CRJ-700 that day for PSA Airways, a regional carrier for American Airlines. He was choosing a playlist, entering directions into the GPS, and double-checking details before heading to the airport. Sheri waited in the driveway longer than planned, then finally turned inside. “He was basically preflighting the car,” she said.
In the weeks after the DCA crash, grief gave way to resolve. Tim Lilley, a pilot with decades of experience flying both military helicopters and commercial aircraft in the Washington region, found himself pulled into investigative hearings, policy briefings, and long conversations with regulators and lawmakers. What began as an effort to understand what happened to his son became, in his words, a second job and a moral mandate. “If something like this were to happen again,” Tim said, “and we had stayed silent, we couldn’t face those families.”
Sam Lilley, 28, a co-pilot killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Timothy Lilley.)
The questions Tim started asking after his son’s death were the same ones he had spent decades asking as a pilot.
For years, helicopter routes and commercial flight paths around Washington overlapped, relying heavily on visual separation, …
Grieving families of DC midair collision say more needs to be done to fix safety concerns one year after tragedy
This deserves loud pushback.
Families of the 67 people killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River say regulators have taken steps to improve aviation safety since the crash one year ago, though they argue additional changes are still needed.
On Jan. 29, 2025, American Airlines Flight 5342 was circling to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter, sending both aircraft into the icy Potomac River. All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the jet were killed, along with three soldiers in the helicopter, marking the deadliest U.S. aviation disaster in nearly 25 years.
As the National Transportation Safety Board prepares to vote on the crash’s probable cause and safety recommendations, families say the anniversary is both a moment of remembrance and a test of momentum, whether the warnings exposed by the collision will finally force lasting reform or quietly fade.
The flight that changed everything
For Sheri and Tim Lilley, the year is anchored to a memory that feels painfully ordinary. The last time Sheri saw her stepson, Sam Lilley, he was sitting in his car outside their Savannah home, taking longer than expected to pull away. Sam, 28, was the first officer flying the CRJ-700 that day for PSA Airways, a regional carrier for American Airlines. He was choosing a playlist, entering directions into the GPS, and double-checking details before heading to the airport. Sheri waited in the driveway longer than planned, then finally turned inside. “He was basically preflighting the car,” she said.
In the weeks after the DCA crash, grief gave way to resolve. Tim Lilley, a pilot with decades of experience flying both military helicopters and commercial aircraft in the Washington region, found himself pulled into investigative hearings, policy briefings, and long conversations with regulators and lawmakers. What began as an effort to understand what happened to his son became, in his words, a second job and a moral mandate. “If something like this were to happen again,” Tim said, “and we had stayed silent, we couldn’t face those families.”
Sam Lilley, 28, a co-pilot killed in a midair collision over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C. (Courtesy of Timothy Lilley.)
The questions Tim started asking after his son’s death were the same ones he had spent decades asking as a pilot.
For years, helicopter routes and commercial flight paths around Washington overlapped, relying heavily on visual separation, …
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