Family of pilot killed in DC collision seeks to reshape aviation rules

CHARLOTTE — Almost a year later, a father is sharing the pain of losing his son.

Sam Lilley was in the right seat of PSA Flight 5342 that collided with a U.S. Army helicopter near Reagan National Airport.

His dad said it was more than a job. It was a calling.

On Capitol Hill Tuesday, the NTSB shared a simulation of what it would have looked like from Sam’s seat in the cockpit.

It was hard to make out the army helicopter, blending in with the city lights until the final seconds. But by then it’s too late.

Now Sam’s parents are working with lawmakers to reshape aviation rules.

For the first time, they’re ready to talk about this new purpose, only to Channel 9’s Erika Jackson.

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When Sam wasn’t flying across the globe as a passenger he was in the pilot’s seat, working toward becoming a captain at PSA Airlines.

It’s a passion his parents believe he got from his dad.

“At first, he didn’t get Charlotte. It took him a couple of months, and he was excited to move there,” Sam’s father, Tim said. “He took his aviation career seriously. Like the only two things that he took so seriously was his fiancé, Lydia, and his aviation career.”

Tim and his wife Sheri were at their home in Savannah when they met Erika on Zoom.

They say it was 2024 when Sam’s fiancé Lydia followed him to Charlotte. The two were engaged to be married the following year.

That all changed on Jan. 29, 2025.

“Sheri looked at wedding venues that very day, to looking for a place to lay his body,” Tim said.

Sam was the first officer on PSA Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas to Washington, D.C.’s Reagan Airport.

Just before 9 p.m. and about a half mile from the airport runway, the regional jet collided into a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter above the Potomac River.

All 64 people on the plane and three on the helicopter died.

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“It was within the first week we were still waiting in D.C. to bring Sam home when we first went to Capitol Hill, and we were still in shock, frankly, but we weren’t sleeping at night, and we felt like all we’re doing is waiting every day,” Sam’s step-mother Sheri said. “Let’s try to do something that feels somewhat productive while we’re here.”

Sheri says they connected with an aviation lobbyist to push for change on Capitol Hill. Tim told Channel 9 he’s piloted the type of helicopter and jet involved in the crash, so he knew what questions to ask during the NTSB’s briefings.

“Aviation regulation is traditionally written in blood,” Tim said. “Somebody has to die to make a new regulation. What we asked for is, instead of writing aviation regulation in blood, let’s start writing it in data, because all the data was there that this accident was probably going to happen.”

The Lilleys believe the Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform Act can save lives. They stood alongside Sen. Ted Cruz in July, when he filed the bill in response to the crash. It would require all aircrafts in controlled airspace to have automatic dependence surveillance broadcast that will allow pilots to better communicate with other planes, helicopters, air traffic control and vehicles on the ground.

“We’ve got to try to find some kind of meaning out of this, and if we can achieve some kind of significant changes to improve safety around air travel, that’s what we wanted to focus on,” Sheri said.

When asked what they thought Sam would think of their mission, Sheri said, “We couldn’t live with ourselves if there were another mass fatality accident like this and we had not acted.”

“This is something that has consumed us for the last year,” Tim said. “It’s like having two extra jobs, but it’s a responsibly that can’t be left behind.”

A responsibility they say they’re proud to hold, in Sam’s honor.

The army released a statement in response to Tuesday’s hearing:

“Our thoughts remain with the soldiers, civilians, and families who were forever affected by this event. In their honor, the army is continuing to implement meaningful changes to strengthen aviation safety, enhance training, and improve coordination in our nation’s most complex airspace.”

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