Crew Of Downed American Airlines Flight 5342 Identified

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The four-member flight crew of American Airlines flight 5342, operated by a PSA CRJ-700, has been identified.

Four-Member Crew Of Downed American Airlines Jet Revealed

American Eagle flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter 400ft above the Potomac River in Washington, DC as it was approaching Washington National Airport (DCA) minutes before 9:00 pm on Wednesday, January 29, 2025.

PSA Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of American Airlines and the flight was operated by Canadair Regional Jet CRJ-700, registration number N709PS, manufactured in September 2004 for US Airways.

The CRJ-700 has two pilots and two flight attendants onboard and their identities have now been revealed:

Captain Jonathan Campos, 34
First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29
Flight Attendant Danasia Elder
Flight Attendant Ian Epstein

Lilley’s father spoke with the UK Daily Mail:

“I saw the crash on the news. I didn’t think there was any way it was my son. But then I watched long enough to figure out it was my son’s airline and then I kind of know his schedule. And so I called his fiancee, confirmed, like, hey was Sam in Wichita? Yes, he was, was he going to to DCA? Yes, he was. So then I had to tell her. It was just an ugly scene.

“You know what, I was OK for five, maybe 10 minutes. And then I bawled for 10 minutes. It’s a bitter, bitter pill to swallow. But my son knows Jesus and that’s the part that makes it a little easier. But I’m still left behind. We’re all left behind. He was loved by so many people.”

Interestingly, Lilley, Sr. was a former Black Hawk helicopter in the US Army, “The irony is that I was a Black Hawk helicopter pilot for 20 years and I used to fly that exact same route that the helicopter that crashed was flying.”

A passenger manifest is just emerging and many figure skaters were onboard. US figure skating team member Spencer Lane, 26, shared the photo below on Instagram from onboard the doomed American Airlines jet as it took off from Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport:

@spencerskates26 / Instagram

My thoughts and prayers are with the families of the lost.

images: Facebook