The father of the American Airlines co-pilot who died in a midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January said a «culture of complacency» allowed the disaster to happen.
The father of the American Airlines co-pilot who died in a midair collision near Reagan National Airport in January told FOX Business Thursday a «culture of complacency» allowed the disaster to happen.
Tim Lilley spoke about his son, First Officer Sam Lilley, ahead of a Senate hearing on the Jan. 29 collision involving an Army helicopter. National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told lawmakers the families and friends of the 67 victims «are here today», and «I can only imagine what they’re going through.»
«My son was an outstanding young man whose career and his life was just taking off, and we were not ready to lose him, and we never would be. And there’s 66 other families that are going through this same thing. This accident was so preventable», Lilley told FOX Business.
«And I’m hoping today that some of this is going to come out. You know, we really need to work on this culture of complacency that allowed this accident to happen.»
During the hearing, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., said a preliminary report from the NTSB «provides alarming statistics in using existing FAA data on the risks at DCA to aviation safety.
«That data includes — and NTSB provides these numbers — in a 13-year period, not a single month went by without at least one ‘close call’ between a helicopter and a commercial jet operating at DCA [Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport].
