Some of the victims in the tragic American Airlines plane crash with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over Washington DC Wednesday night, including the flight crew of the plane, were from the Charlotte area. North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein offered his condolences in a social media statement Thursday afternoon.
My heart goes out to everyone who lost loved ones in the tragic DCA plane crash. Anna and I are praying for all involved – including the families of the Charlotte-based crew members.
— Governor Josh Stein (@NC_Governor) January 30, 2025
The ill-fated American Eagle Flight 5342, operated by American Airlines regional carrier PSA Airlines, was coming from Wichita, Kansas, and was getting ready to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when the helicopter collided with the plane. The impact caused the plane to break into three pieces and caused it and the helicopter to crash into the Potomac River, which had a water temperature in the upper 30s at the time of the crash.
All 60 passengers and four crew members aboard the plane are believed to have been killed, along with three soldiers aboard the helicopter. Recovery operations are ongoing.
American Airlines has not officially reported the names of the crew, but a relative of twenty-nine-year-old First Officer Samuel Lilley, confirmed to NBC News that he was one of the plane’s pilots who was based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport.
His father, Timothy, told The Daily Mail that he loved working at PSA and was about to make captain. He was also newly engaged.
He graduated from Georgia Southern University in 2018 and graduated as an airline pilot in 2022.
Fifty-three-year-old senior flight attendant Ian Epstein and thirty-four-year-old flight attendant Danasia Elder were also based at Charlotte Douglas.
Epstein was with American Airlines subsidiary PSA for five years from February 2020 and ‘ranked in the top 5% nationwide in American Airlines’ credit card sales program’. He coached and mentored new flight attendants.
Before his airline job, he was the founder and sales director of Oak Barrel Travel in Charlotte and a senior sales consultant at Camping World.
His daughter is scheduled to be married in eight weeks.
Elder leaves behind a husband and two children.
Also killed in the crash was Wendy Shaffer, a mother of two young children from Charlotte.
According to WSOC-TV, Shaffer’s passing was confirmed through a GoFundMe page set up by friends, which noted she leaves behind a husband and two children, ages 3 and 1.
The other pilot of the plane that was killed was thirty-four-year-old Jonathan Campos of Florida.
Other victims that have been identified are a figure skating group, including two US figure skating champions.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles also sent out her condolences on X.
— Mayor Vi Lyles (@CLTMayor) January 30, 2025
“Renee and I are heartbroken to hear that among the lives lost in the tragic DCA plane crash were Charlotte-based crew members,” said US Rep. Richard Hudson, R-NC-09 on X. “This comes as we also mourn the recent loss of an airline employee in a devastating accident at CLT. We’re praying for their families & all those affected.”
Charlotte Douglas noted on X that they have chaplains on site to support employees and passengers.
— CLT Airport (@CLTAirport) January 30, 2025
So far, about 28 bodies have been pulled from the wreckage in the Potomac.
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the crash. They held a briefing on Thursday afternoon.
Fox News reported that staffing at the airport’s air control tower was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary Federal Aviation Administration report reviewed by The New York Times.
According to the NYT report, the controller who was handling helicopters Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from the airport runways. Two controllers typically handle those assignments.
The early report also says that the air control tower at Reagan Airport may have been understaffed for years. As of September 2023, there were 19 fully certified controllers. Staffing targets set by the FAA and the controllers’ union call for 30.
The post DC plane crash victims include flight crew, woman from Charlotte first appeared on Carolina Journal.
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