Public memorial for Sam Lilley
SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Hundreds of friends and family gathered Saturday at a memorial service for pilot Sam Lilley, highlighting his pride in his profession but also his kindness and his humor.
Lilley, 28, was the first officer on PSA Airlines Flight 5342 on Jan. 29 when a midair collision between the commercial passenger plane and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington killed everyone onboard both aircraft.
WSAV News 3's Tyler Nicole was there.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
43 minutes ago
- Yahoo
NTSB report says plane that caught fire had incorrectly installed parts
A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board found indications maintenance errors could be at fault for an American Airlines plane that caught fire after making an emergency landing at Denver International Airport in March. Investigators say airport cameras captured video showing a trail of fluid following the plane as it taxied after diverting to Denver due to an engine issue. When investigators looked at the plane's engine, they discovered some parts were loose and appeared to be installed incorrectly, with one "allowing fuel to leak from the fitting." "The way this is looking is that there was a maintenance issue that led to this fire and we've gotta figure out where that error occurred so we can keep that error from happening again," said former NTSB chair Robert Sumwalt, CBS News transportation safety analyst. Passengers escape plane The NTSB says the fire was put out in less than a minute by ground crews in Denver. The report describes the chaos in the cabin after passengers, who were flying to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, saw flames under the engine. "Everyone was screaming, 'There's a fire. There's a fire,'" Helen Prager, who was on the plane, recalled. "Literally at the gate and I was screaming, 'Get the doors open.'" As that was happening, the NTSB said a flight attendant called the pilots, but "did not get an answer." Another flight attendant knocked on the cockpit door to alert the pilots of the fire outside and the smoke inside. Some of the 172 passengers evacuated to the wing, but an escape slide jammed, preventing the use of the cabin doors. "When it did not deploy properly and it jammed the door, that's a problem," Sumwalt said. "So the NTSB is going to want to drill down into that. … Did it come from the factory that way, or was it a maintenance problem?" Twelve people were taken to a hospital with minor injuries following the fire, officials said following the incident. The plane took off from Colorado Springs. In a statement, American Airlines told CBS News, "The safety of our customers and team members is our top priority and we are cooperating with the National Transportation Safety Board in its investigation." Aviation incidents in 2025 The plane fire in Denver is one in a string of aviation incidents so far this year. In January, a midair collision where a Blackhawk helicopter struck an American Airlines plane near Reagan National Airport killed all 64 people on board the regional jet and the three soldiers in the helicopter. The flight was coming from Wichita, Kansas. A Delta Air Lines regional jet crashed and flipped upside down during its landing at Toronto International Airport in February. The incident left 21 people injured, but all 80 on board, including the crew, were able to escape the wreckage. Members of Congress were on a plane sitting on the tarmac at Reagan National Airport in April when it was clipped by another aircraft. No injuries were reported in the incident. Meanwhile, the FAA is investigating outages that have happened at the Philadelphia air traffic control center, which is responsible for operating flights out of Newark airport. Multiple outages have occurred since April. Last month, the Trump administration announced plans to overhaul the system. Despite high-profile incidents this year, a CBS News analysis based on NTSB and Bureau of Travel Statistics data shows .02% of domestic flights were involved in accidents in 2024. Musk alleges Trump's name appeared in Epstein files as feud escalates What to know about President Trump's travel ban on nationals from 12 countries Trump says he's disappointed by Musk criticism of budget bill, Musk says he got Trump elected

Epoch Times
an hour ago
- Epoch Times
Chief Joseph: Servant-Leader and Guardian of His People
Throughout the summer of 1877, a band of the Nez Perce tribe engaged in a 1,170 mil e-lo ng flight and running battle with forces of the U.S. Army. Driven from their homeland in the Wallowa Valley of northeastern Oregon Territory, and led by several chiefs, they fled across the Idaho T erritory. Men, women, children, and horses, crossed int o Montana as they sought escape across the Canadian border. Exhausted and hungry, and their numbers diminished by pitched battles, they made a final stand in the Bear Paw Mountains. They were still in Montana—only 40 miles from Canada. The American public followed this exodus through the newspapers of the day. Readers reacted differently to this war between U.S. troopers and Indians than to other conflicts fought in the Great Plains over the previous 40 years. Many Americans, including members of Congress and the soldiers engaged in these battles, came to admire the Nez Perce for their endurance, bravery, and humanity.


Chicago Tribune
3 hours ago
- Chicago Tribune
Donna Vickroy: We'll never know our family history if we don't ask questions
It was during a break in the interview with his 108-year-old aunt that the man whispered, 'Wow, I didn't know any of this. I'm learning so much.' I've written a lot of stories about a lot of people over the years. So often, family members have been shocked to learn of the hardships and accomplishments of their own elders. In most cases, the younger people knew facts about the older person's life — they'd been in the service or grew up an orphan — but not details, like they went hungry or embraced kindness even when in distress. When it comes to recounting how the ordinary folks in our own families endured extraordinary circumstances, so much seems to go unsaid. In any given episode of the PBS documentary, 'Finding Your Roots,' you'll watch the featured celebrity express shock at the events of an ancestor's life. Years ago, I interviewed the family of a Chicago Heights man who served in the Italian army during World War I. The father had passed away and his adult children uncovered his war journal, which was written in an obscure Italian dialect. With the help of a professor in Italy, they were able to translate the book to English, revealing a heartbreaking story of suffering. Though he had immigrated to America, the man had been drafted to fight in the Italian army back home. During a brutal battle, in which he recalled most of the soldiers in his trench were killed, he was captured. As a prisoner of war, he nearly starved to death. Upon learning her father's history, his daughter was moved to tears. She finally understood why he always ate so slowly, savoring every bite of food, including a common apple. 'I never knew any of this,' she said. More than not, history gaps are a common occurrence in families, including my own. It was on the eve of a serious surgery that my father-in-law finally agreed to be interviewed. I knew he had served during World War II, and that he had been back to the same parts of France and Germany several times. But, until that night, I didn't know why. He was a stoic man not given easily to emotion. I'd asked on many occasions about his war experience and he simply supplied cursory facts about time served. But on this night, a simple question opened the floodgates: 'You've been all over the world. But why did you travel to the same parts of Europe again and again?' 'To visit the grave of my friend,' he said. I grabbed a notebook. He had been a soldier in the 290th Engineering Combat Unit of the U.S. Army during World War II. Deep in the winter of 1944, he was on the frontlines in northern Germany, battling both the Nazis and a bad case of frostbite. When he couldn't get his boots on one morning, his commanding officer sent him to the field hospital. That night while he was recovering in the safety of the medical facility, the Germans attacked, killing almost everyone in his unit, including his best Army buddy. Many of the slain were subsequently buried at an American cemetery in France. Over the years, my father-in-law felt compelled to pay his respects to his friend and fallen comrades again and again. Upon hearing the story, my then-50-something-year-old husband became emotional. 'How come I never knew any of this?' he asked. His father shrugged and said, 'You never asked.' I think that simple explanation is why so many of us know so little about the family members who came before us. We can search ancestry files for facts and records, but the stories attached to that data often go unsaid. I recently learned that my maternal grandmother, who died in 2003, was a family heroine whose sacrifice and resilience went unnoticed or at least uncelebrated by most of her descendants. She found a way to divorce her abusive husband and retain custody of her four children during the 1940s, at a time when women had little say in the court system. I was very close to my grandmother and I am sorry she never confided in me, that I had to learn of her gallantry third-hand. I am even sorrier I never asked the right questions. I can't imagine how frightening it had to be for her to press charges against an abusive man, knowing the best outcome would be to become a single mother during wartime. As the story goes, the Army actually provided her the opportunity. When her husband was called up, he immediately went into hiding. Seizing the moment, she apparently ratted out his location and, with him shuffled off to boot camp, quickly filed for divorce. My nana endured a difficult life. But because of her quiet disposition, her grandchildren never would have guessed it. Even though America is a relatively young country, it has generational stories to tell. Tales of struggle, resilience, personal successes, heartbreaking losses, hilarious antics and big dreams offer a spotlight on the past and insight into who we are. Unless we find a way to prime the pump, too many these personal accounts will die with the protagonist.