Multiple passengers from Florida and Georgia were on board a plane that crashed after colliding with a military helicopter outside Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night, including the crew. Our Orlando station, WFTV, has learned that Captain Jonathan Campos attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach.
Captain Campos was piloting an American Airlines plane to Ronald Reagan National Airport.
The university published the following statement:
“Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University is deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Captain Jonathan Campos (Aeronautical Science,’15). Our thoughts are with his family and the families and loved ones of all impacted by this tragic accident.”
There were 64 persons on the jet and three on the helicopter. Officials believe there are no survivors.
Local legislator and Georgia House Majority Caucus Whip James Burchett (R-Waycross) revealed the identities of two Georgia men who died in the incident, including the first officer aboard American Airlines Flight 5342.
Samuel Lilley, the first officer, graduated from Richmond Hill High School and Georgia Southern University. Lilley’s father, a former Army helicopter pilot, had inspired him to become an aviator as well. He had lately gotten engaged.
WFTV says that he graduated from the ATP Flight School in Daytona Beach in 2020.
Georgian Ryan O’Hara, like Lilley, was slain. He graduated from Parkview High School in Lilburn in 2014 and worked as a crew chief for the Blackhawk helicopter. He leaves behind his wife and one-year-old son.
Burchett released the following statement on their deaths Thursday:
“Like all Americans, I mourn the loss of life in this tragic incident that claimed the lives of at least two Georgians, Ryan O’Hara and Sam Lilley.
Tragedies like this have an even greater impact on all of us when they hit close to home.
Sam was from Richmond Hill near Savannah, while Ryan went on from the Parkview High School Junior ROTC near Atlanta to serve our country as an Army aviator.
While we will no doubt learn what went wrong and what we can do to prevent accidents like this in the coming weeks, I join all Georgians today in mourning the loss of these two young men and the dozens of others who lost their lives in this tragedy.”
