After learning his son was killed in the deadly midair crash, the father of 28-year-old Sam Lilley \u2013 one of two pilots on the American Airlines flight \u2013 shared an emotional post on Facebook, saying \u201cit hurts so bad I can\u2019t even cry myself to sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tragedy struck the skies over Washington, D.C., on the evening of January 29, when American Airlines Flight 5342 collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.<\/p>\n
The devastating incident, which occurred around 9 p.m. local time, claimed the lives of all 60 passengers and four crew members on board the commercial flight. Three soldiers on the helicopter are also feared dead.<\/p>\n
Timothy Lilley, a former military helicopter pilot, confirmed that his 28-year-old son, Sam Lilley, was one of two pilots on the American Airlines flight who died in the fatal midair collision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,\u201d Timothy told Fox 5.<\/p>\n
The now grieving father explained that he shared a passion for flying with Sam, who started flight training in 2019. He verified that Sam was working with PSA Airlines, a regional group owned by American Airlines, for two years. Sam was also engaged to be married.<\/p>\n
At the time of the crash, Timothy was in New York for work and hadn\u2019t realized his son was on the flight: \u201cLast night when I saw on Fox News there was a crash in DC, I really didn\u2019t think there was any way that was my son,\u201d Timothy said.<\/p>\n
But when he didn\u2019t hear from Sam, who frequently stayed in touch, Timothy knew the worst had happened.<\/p>\n
\u2018Hurts so bad\u2019
\nThe next day, the proud but heartbroken dad shared a heartbreaking post on Facebook, expressing his profound grief.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was so proud when Sam became a pilot. Now it hurts so bad I can\u2019t even cry myself to sleep. I know I\u2019ll see him again but my heart is breaking,\u201d he captions the post that includes an photo of Sam standing in front of an APT (Advanced Pilot Training) aircraft. \u201cHe was doing great in his career and his personal life. He was engaged to get married in the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n
He continues, \u201cSam was the First Officer on the flight that crashed in DC [January 29]. It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
His post resonated deeply, garnering an outpouring of support from family, friends, and even strangers who were moved by his loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
After learning his son was killed in the deadly midair crash, the father of 28-year-old Sam Lilley \u2013 one of two pilots on the American Airlines flight… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":30161,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-30160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n