The 28-year-old pilot of the American Airlines passenger plane, which collided with a US Army Black Hawk helicopter on Wednesday, was looking forward to marrying his fiancée this year, his father said. Sam Lilley was the first officer on American Airlines Flight 5342.

In an emotional Facebook post, Sam’s father, Timothy Lilley, said he felt proud when his son became a pilot but “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. He was thriving in his career and personal life,” he wrote.

Timothy, a former Army helicopter pilot himself, shared that Sam was engaged to marry in the fall. “It’s devastating to lose someone so loved,” he wrote.

At the time of the crash, Timothy was in New York for work. He described the moment he realised his son was flying when the crash occurred as the worst day of his life. He had a gut feeling something was wrong when Sam, who always checked in, failed to do so.

Speaking to Fox News, Timothy, who served as a helicopter pilot for 20 years, recalled flying in and out of the Pentagon during the 1990s. He explained, “If you’re flying over the Potomac River at night with night vision goggles, it’s extremely difficult to spot a plane. Without them, it’s slightly easier but still challenging.” He believes the commercial jet followed proper procedures, but the military helicopter made a tragic error.

The mid-air collision took place at around 8:47 pm EST, three miles from the White House and the US Capitol. The two aircraft crashed into the Potomac River near Reagan Washington National Airport, killing all 67 people aboard, making it the deadliest US air crash since 2001.

Reports say that investigators have recovered the black boxes from the passenger plane as rescuers pulled bodies from the Potomac River

The American Airlines plane was flying to the US capital from Wichita, Kansas. It had onboard athletes and coaches from the elite figure skating world, including former Russian world pairs champions Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov.