Tim and Sheri Lilley, who lost their son in the January 29 midair collision over Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (KDCA), are encouraged by the progress on Capitol Hill to pass legislation to strengthen ADS-B requirements but are continuing their advocacy to ensure enhanced safety regulation. In a heartfelt session, the Lilleys shared their story during the 2025 Air Charter Safety Summit about the loss of Sam Lilley, one of the pilots of the PSA Airlines-operated American Airlines Flight 5342 CRJ700 that collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter while on final approach to Runway 33.
That accident thrust the Lilleys onto a national stage and led to a quest to ensure the lessons learned from the accident would elevate safety standards so that such an event could never happen again. Sheri Lilley, a safety advocate and IT strategist who formerly worked at Gulfstream Aerospace, returned to the 2026 Safety Summit, attending the duration and adding comments on the importance of emergency response planning.
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