

Captain Jonathan Campos & First Officer Samuel Lilley identified as American Airlines crew flying doomed plane that collided mid-air with helicopter along with flight attendants, Ian Epstein and Danasia Elder. Lilley’s father, Timothy said son was engaged and set to be promoted to captain prior to tragedy.
The pilots of the American Eagle passenger plane that collided mid-air with a military helicopter over Washington DC have been identified as Captain Jonathan Campos, 34, and First Officer Samuel Lilley.
Making up the four crew members with 60 passengers on board the American Airlines flight 5342, were flight attendants, Ian Epstein and Danasia Elder.
Along with all 64 on the AA jet, all three soldiers on the Black Hawk military helicopter are believed to have been killed. While the identity of the military helicopter pilot and soldiers had yet to be divulged, President Donald Trump bemoaned the un-named pilot as a DEI hire, criticising their purported lack of qualifications and skill set necessary for the tough job and suggesting the pilot was brought on for ‘ideological’ reasons.
Only 1 air traffic control worker was managing helicopters and planes, doing the job of two people
Ryan O’Hara id as Black Hawk helicopter crew chief sitting behind 2 very experienced pilots before AA collision

Bitter sweet irony as former Black Hawk pilot dad describes first officer pilot ascent
Newly-engaged Lilley, 29, was months away from being promoted to captain, his father Timothy Liley, told the dailymail.
Ironically the father was himself a former Army Black Hawk pilot and had flown in the exact same area for over 20 years where Wednesday night’s tragedy happened.
‘Samuel was in the prime of his life. He was engaged to a beautiful, wonderful girl and we were all excited about her joining the family,’ the grieving dad told the tabloid.
Timothy and his former wife Sheri raised their pilot son in Savannah, Georgia, where he graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2018.
‘At first he went into marketing and he called me after two months and said, dad, I hate my job,’ said Lilley Sr. ‘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.’

Everything to live for, very little to die for
Of his son’s career path, the dad said: ‘He loved working at PSA and he was just about to make captain. In fact we last talked two or three days ago and that was what we were talking about.
He was real close to qualifying. I talked to him all the time, we’d talk about flying all the time. I was thrilled to know he was getting so far.’
The former couple’s son was based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, a major US hub for American Airlines, which uses American Eagle as regional carrier. He graduated as an airline pilot ion 2022.
Campos was born in New York but grew up in Florida. He attended the Epic Flight Academy where he was certified as a flight instructor in 2017 and as a commercial airline pilot one year later, according to the company’s records.
His uncle Hector Campos told the dailymail that his nephew lived for the aviation business, saying: ‘He loved it.’