CNN —
All 67 passengers on board the American Airlines regional jet and US Army Black Hawk helicopter that collided midair Wednesday night are presumed dead – a grim tragedy that has left a heartbreaking trail of mourning families in its wake.
The somber day will be remembered as the deadliest aviation disaster in the US since 2001.
As details of the disturbing catastrophe emerge and additional bodies are identified, the full weight and impact of the lives lost grows heavier. Here are some of the victims of the tragedy identified so far.
Sam Lilley, a young fiancé awaiting his fall wedding, was piloting the American Airlines flight that was minutes away from a safe landing when a collision with an Army helicopter plunged both aircrafts and everyone on board into Virginia’s Potomac River.
“I was so proud when Sam became a pilot,” Lilley’s father, Timothy Lilley, said in a Facebook post Thursday. “Now it hurts so bad I can’t even cry myself to sleep. I know I’ll see him again but my heart is breaking.”
Lilley, 28, was the first officer on the flight, his father said in the post, and was “doing great in his career and his personal life.”
“It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much,” Timothy Lilley said. “This is undoubtedly the worst day of my life,” he told FOX 5 Atlanta.
The grieving father, who served as a helicopter pilot in the Army for 20 years, said he believes the commercial jet involved in the incident was following proper procedures.
“From what I can see, those guys turned right into the jet. I think the PSA jet was doing everything right,” Lilley told Fox 5 Atlanta. “The Army pilot made a grave error. It hurts me because those are my brothers, and now my son is dead.”
Jonathan Campos, the captain of the American Airlines flight, was also killed, according to a fellow pilot who knew Campos personally. The colleague said that Campos became a captain for the airline in 2022.
“He was an amazing person,” Campos’ family member, Edward Campos, told CNN. “He loved flying. He loved his family.”
Ian Epstein, 53, was a flight attendant on the American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision, his sister, Robbie Bloom, confirmed to CNN.
“My brother was a wonderful, wonderful man. He loved life. He loved traveling. He loved his job. He loved his family. And he will be sorely missed,” Bloom said.
Epstein, who had been a flight attendant for several years, leaves behind two children and two stepchildren, according to Bloom.
“He made friends everywhere he went. He used to talk about the people he met on the plane as if they were all new friends,” Bloom said.
Asra Hussain Raza, 26, was one of several victims killed, her father-in-law, Dr. Hashim Raza, told CNN.
A daughter of Indian immigrants, Hussain Raza graduated with honors in 2020 from Indiana University and married her college sweetheart in August 2023, Raza said.
Raza was a Washington, DC-based consultant who traveled to Wichita twice a month to work on a turnaround project for a hospital there, her father-in-law said. She would often call him at the end of his late emergency room shifts to make sure he stayed awake on the drive home, he told CNN.
“She went out of her way for everybody,” Raza said.
Four steamfitter union members were among those killed in the deadly collision, the union announced Thursday. A steamfitter is a tradesperson who installs and maintains piping systems that carry steam, water and other liquids or gases and often work in power plants, factories and construction sites.
“We are heartbroken to confirm that four members of UA Steamfitters Local 602 were among the victims of the American Airlines Flight 5342 crash yesterday,” the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada said on X.
“Our focus is now on providing support and care to the families of the Brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” the Union said, adding they are planning for a nationwide relief effort for the families of the victims.
A married pair of skating champions, two young skaters and two of their parents were among those killed in the plane crash, the Skating Club of Boston said Thursday.
Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov were the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs. They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers. Their son, Maxim Naumov, just won fourth place at the US men’s figure skating championships last weekend.
Skater Jinna Han and her mother, Jin Han, were also killed, along with skater Spencer Lane and his mother, Christine Lane, the Skating Club of Boston said.
The tragedy will have a profound impact on the World Figure Skating Championships in March, which will be held in Boston this year.
Passengers aboard the American Airlines flight included athletes and others returning from a development camp that was held in conjunction with the US Figure Skating Championships, which had been held over several days in Wichita, according to the organization that oversees figure skating in the US. The Skating Club of Boston named six who were killed in the crash.
They were in Kansas participating in events related to the US Figure Skating Championships, the national governing body of the sport confirmed.
US Olympic figure skater Nancy Kerrigan, who went to the Skating Club of Boston on Thursday to support the community she loves, said she had “never seen anyone love skating” as much as the athletes who died in the collision.
“I’m not sure how to process it,” she said, crying.
Kerrigan said she had been watching coverage of the tragedy all night, but then “when you find out you know some of the people on the plane, it’s even a bigger blow.”
While Kerrigan said she didn’t know the coaches personally, she did remember seeing them over the years. She remembered that they always had a “smile on their face.”
“To walk in here and not see that, I think would be very strange for everybody that comes here, especially those that are here day in and day out,” she said. “It’s going to be hard.”
CNN’s Juan Carlos Lopez and Taylor Galgano contributed to this report.
