The four-member flight crew of American Airlines flight 5342, operated by a PSA CRJ-700, has been identified.
Four-Member Crew Of Downed American Airlines Jet Revealed
American Eagle flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter 400ft above the Potomac River in Washington, DC as it was approaching Washington National Airport (DCA) minutes before 9:00 pm on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.
PSA Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines and the flight was operated by Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-700, registration number N709PS, manufactured in September 2004 for US Airways.
The CRJ-700 has two pilots and two flight attendants onboard and their identities have now been revealed:
- Captain Jonathan Campos, 34
- First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29
- Flight Attendant Danasia Elder
- Flight Attendant Ian Epstein
Lilley’s father spoke with the UK Daily Mail:
“I saw the crash on the news. I didn’t think there was any way it was my son. But then I watched long enough to figure out it was my son’s airline and then I kind of know his schedule. And so I called his fiancee, confirmed, like, hey was Sam in Wichita? Yes, he was, was he going to to DCA? Yes, he was. So then I had to tell her. It was just an ugly scene.
“You know what, I was OK for five, maybe 10 minutes. And then I bawled for 10 minutes. It’s a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. But my son knows Jesus and that’s the part that makes it a little easier. But I’m still left behind. We’re all left behind. He was loved by so many people.”
Interestingly, Lilley, Sr. was a former Black Hawk helicopter in the US Army, “The irony is that I was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for 20 years and I used to fly that exact same route that the helicopter that crashed was flying.”
A passenger manifest is just emerging and many figure skaters were onboard. US figure skating team member Spencer Lane, 26, shared the photo below on Instagram from onboard the doomed American Airlines jet as it took off from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport:
My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the lost.
images: Facebook
May the memory of each of the 67 souls lost be a blessing to their families and loved ones. It is utterly despicable, disgusting, and beyond contempt, that that Orange piece of shit is blaming Obama, Buttigieg, and the democrats in general for what appears to be a tragic pilot error by a member of the military. It’s too bad that the Mango Mussolini and his cast of fascists weren’t the ones on that plane. That would “make America great.”
While I agree with your prayers for the families,,there has been a shortage of ATC controllers for years, and FAA had very little leadership during last months of the previous administration,,,DOT leadership told over and over,,hire and train more controllers,,,ignored or very little done…and the Washington Post now reporting DCA tower was undermanned last night,,,,arrivals ATC working a position 2 should have been assigned to,,so there IS some blame for previous lack of action by multiple Administrations…..
Democrats hate taking responsibility.
They are responsible for this because they don’t care about qualifications or staffing.
The faa as it is today is the Faa and atc system that biden and obama destroyed of the course of decades.
Which president fired all the air traffic controllers in 1982? Which party was in office from 1980-1992 and 2000-2008 and 2016-2020?
This is hardly the fault of a Democrat, or Republican for that matter. We need to look into the mirror and ask ourselves whether endless tax cuts for the rich are the answer.
You’re a pathetic individual to your core. It must hurt being that stupid, get a grip Nealy boy.
My god. This is THE most pathetic show of “sympathy” I have ever read. It is the product of a very…very troubled mind. To enter politics into a tragedy like this, to denigrate the people on the plane, their families, etc. by injecting your very troubled life. Pray (If you can) that if you experience such a tragedy as this that people will be kinder to you than you exhibit to others. I am still stunned at this.
With lots of unknowns remaining, there is zero speculation that the plane did anything wrong. It’s a shame there was nothing the crew could have realistically done to avoid this.
I’m a former PSA Captain based in DCA. There is something the crew could have done. They could have remained on the visual to RW 01 instead of requesting a circle maneuver to RW 33 (at night). They accepted additional responsibility to see and avoid any traffic below 1000’ in addition to the Blackhawk crew, even though they couldn’t while maneuvering. Also TCAS traffic collision and avoidance systems have limitations below 1000’ and will not provide guidance. They made the choice to accept additional risk. They got it.
This post is an inference based on conjecture. The crew requested to change runways when they didn’t have to.
They requested or were they were directed?
Too many aircraft in the air at the same time , going the same places , crossing each one another’s routes , all to make extra profit for the airlines and manufacturers .
Too few air traffic controllers , each managing too many aircraft .
Complacency on the part of too many , thinking of ways to attract more and more revenue customers .
What might go wrong ?
Answer : everything .
Meanwhile , many politicians and so-called “experts” all talking “hot air” about things which are not yet known .
I definitely was on a flight last year with the male flight attendant. So sad.
NEAL Z above is actively calling for the death of the sitting US president and his cabinet. Paging the FBI….
The Name calling and blame game needs to be omitted.
I have a flight attendant daughter grieving for her coworkers right now and our prayers for these family members is what’s needed right now . T his is tragic all the way around and cannot be undone as we wish it could be. Let us all remember that when posting responses and emotions. A lot are hurting . Be kind.
+1 . Yes .
Well said! Thoughts and prayers for everyone who is grieving right now.
Debi. Name calling is one of alert’s troll features. For over a year. ( please check their previously posted comments ) They have been disgusting at best and foolish at worst. I am happy your daughter is safe, as I continue to pray for everyone here. All the best. Maryland
Meanwhile the orange thing is blaming this tragedy on DEI programs at the Federal Aviation Administration.
Its because he’s right. The faa cut the CTI program in 2013 because the people it was sending to the FAA were “too white” and thus because of that they are short staffed.
Trump wanted to privatize ATC and use the latest technology to ensure incidents like this don’t happen again yet a rino and dem congress blocked him in the first term. They were happy, though, to have DEI and other detrimental policies which contributed to ATC system being overextended.
DEI is deadly.
You shouldn’t comment on things you only heard about on Fox.
Very tragic accident. The flight crew were not American Airlines emloyees, rather an American Airlines feeder named PSA.
Yes, but as I mentioned, PSA is a wholly owned subsidiary of the American Airlines Group.
technically your wrong american airlines is AAG “American Airline Group” think of it as different department within the company. They are AA employees that operate on the regional side of the operation. thats why uniforms etc identical im a flight attendant
This accident hits hard for me, since I have a huge love for aviation, and my job is managing a ice skating rink with figure skating athletes. I know many people who went to Wichita for the competition and were returning back home. Some of the skaters at my rink knew many of these people on the plane. RIP.
My prayers for the lost souls, families and friends. And thinking of Mr Lilley and the pain of discovering the loss of his son. God be with you sir.
I’ve always thought that DCA was an accident waiting to happen. It should be downsized. Go down to 10-12 landings per hour. If necessary, have a 500 mile perimeter rule. Dulles is more like a real airport. Even better, cap the number of landings and take offs to the number of gates at Dallas Love. Let Love Field expand by 20 more gates, which there is plenty of room to do so, then increase the number of landing and take slots by 20 per hour.
It’s heartbreaking when you hear about a tragedy like this. It becomes all the more real when you hear the stories of those who survive them and will live to miss them for the rest of their lives. My condolences to the family and friends of all lost last night.
Respectful sympathies to victims and their families. My single glaring observation as a non-aero professional is the non-specific identifications between key actors, especially in a critical stage. Scares me. In my IT consulting business, such ambiguity could cause dismissal.