Georgia native was a copilot of American Airlines flight that crashed in D.C.

There were 60 passengers and four crew members, including Lilley, aboard the CRJ-700 aircraft. Three Army crew members were aboard the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that it collided with. Officials said there were no survivors.

Gwinnett County high school graduate Ryan O’Hara was one of the soldiers aboard the Black Hawk. Gov. Brian Kemp confirmed O’Hara’s death in a social media post.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.

Kaitlin Sells met Lilley while they were students at Georgia Southern, and called him “an amazing person … nothing but kindness.”

Lilley had decided to go to flying school after graduating from Georgia Southern, his childhood friend Titus Snavely said. And “he took off with it and was really good at it. He was crushing it, gaining all the hours that he needed. He was acing all of his tests.”

Lilley’s father Tim is also a pilot, Snavely said.

Sam Lilley had moved to Charlotte, N.C., for the job and had been making quick progress. “He was a motivated man that didn’t let anything stop him,” Snavely said.

Credit: Kaitlin Sells

Credit: Kaitlin Sells

Sells said Lilley enjoyed sharing his love of aviation with friends.

“He was so passionate about flying,” she said. “The past couple of years, that’s all he talked about.”

She said she was on a small Piper airplane in Savannah with Lilley in 2022 when he hit the 1,500-hour milestone of flight time required to become an airline pilot.

Lilley was fascinated with the mechanics of flight, but Sells thinks he also liked “being the person to keep people safe — being, you know, the guy that everyone can trust. He held that at such a high regard.”

Credit: Source: Kaitlin Sells

Credit: Source: Kaitlin Sells

“Sam was one of those few, rare people that would be there for anyone,” Therault, who grew up with Lilley and his brother, told the AJC. “There’s a lot of people I know right now would consider him their best friend that are really struggling through this.”

Lilley was also “always trying to be a part of something bigger, to help people in need,” he said.

A 2011 Bryan County Now article highlights a 14-year-old Lilley’s work with his church to raise $5,000 to build a well in a remote Zambian village through a yard sale, bake sale and car wash.

Lilley did indeed raise all that money, Snavely confirmed. “If he put his mind to something, it was getting done.”

He was also “really funny” and “quite the jokester,” Therault said. “He could really brighten up anybody’s day.”

Lilley was engaged and set to be married in the fall. He had proposed in Ireland last year, Sells said.

Sam Lilley’s father, Tim, posted on Facebook Thursday in remembrance of his son.

“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot. Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep,” Tim Lilley wrote. “I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking.”

Tim Lilley did not immediately respond to a voicemail from the AJC.

Identities of others killed in the collision were beginning to emerge Thursday. Two young figure skaters, two of their parents and two highly-regarded Russian figure skating coaches were among those killed.

Sells found out that Lilley was piloting the plane after her mom texted her Thursday morning. Her parents know Lilley’s parents, and they all saw each other at a wedding a few weeks ago, where Lilley introduced his fiancee, she said.

Since hearing the news about the collision, “Everyone’s just in complete shock. No one can really wrap their head around it.”

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.