The father of 28-year-old PSA Airlines co-pilot Sam Lilley, who was killed in the deadly collision near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, appeared to fight back tears Thursday on NewsNation, saying his comfort from the tragedy is knowing his son “was right with Jesus.”
On Wednesday evening, a PSA Airlines jet collided with a military helicopter near Washington Reagan National Airport, killing all involved. PSA Airlines is part of the American Airlines group.
On “Cuomo,” Tim Lilley spoke about his son and was asked by host Chris Cuomo how he was coping with the loss.
“It doesn’t make sense. Sam’s right with Jesus, and I know where he’s going, and I just love that kid, and I’m sorry — ” Lilley said as he paused.
Cuomo told him not to apologize.
“That’s the only thing that gives me any comfort at all, is I know where he [is],” Lilley said.
Initial reports of the collision began to surface on X, with Reagan Airport posting around 9:12 p.m. local time that “emergency personnel” were sent to respond to an “aircraft incident.” A statement from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) provided to the Daily Caller News Foundation confirmed the incident, noting the American Airlines flight was traveling from Wichita, Kan.
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The father said that his son had pursued a career as a pilot after hating his previous job in marketing.
“Sam, well, he went to Georgia Southern, and he was a marketing major. He was excited about that career, but he got started in marketing and worked there for like two months,” Lilley said. “He called me up. He said, ‘Dad, I hate my job. I want to be an airline pilot.’ I was like, ‘Well, now you tell me.’”
“But he pursued it. He pursued it with a vigor, and he was able to attain it in just a few years. He’s been working at PSA. He loved working at PSA, and he was really successful at it,” Lilley added. “Then his personal life, it just went really well. The girl he’s engaged to is just wonderful, and we all loved her. We were just so glad she was gonna join our family. It’s just a tragedy.”
Lilley said that his family learned of his son’s death while watching news of the collision, later confirming their suspicions that the 28-year-old had been on the flight after his fiancée confirmed the information.
“I was watching the news, and we saw it as an accident. I didn’t think it was any way Sam, and I knew he was on a trip,” Lilley said. “So I, through my wife, got in touch with his fiancée, and we found out what trip he was on. It was the same trip. He wasn’t answering the phone. That’s when I knew.”
“It takes a little while for it to sink in. I just thought maybe he was flying a different route. We turn our phones off when we’re on a flight. So he was really good about doing that. So I just figured maybe he was on another flight. But when it started sinking, and it really was him, I just fell apart,” Lilley said.
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz announced Thursday morning that the investigation had “transitioned from response to recovery.” The crash was confirmed to have killed all 60 passengers and four crew members on an American Airlines flight, along with three soldiers aboard the Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the plane.
The investigation, led by the National Transportation Safety Board alongside the FAA, is still ongoing.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/NewsNation/”Cuomo”)
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