Co-pilot in deadly US plane crash was engaged to be married

More than 40 bodies have been recovered after a mid-air crash between a US military Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines passenger plane in Washington DC.

All 67 people caught in the crash over the Potomac River are believed dead, including three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk and 60 passengers and four crew on the plane.

The bodies of the three soldiers are among those recovered, but they have not been named.

Here's what we know about those on board.

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First officer was engaged to be married

Two pilots on the plane have been identified.

Samuel Lilley, 28, was the first officer on the flight, his father said in a Facebook post.

"I was so proud when Sam became a pilot," Timothy Lilley wrote.

"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 doing great in his career and his personal life. 

"He was engaged to get married in the fall.  

"Sam was the first officer on the flight that crashed in DC last night.  It is so devastating to lose someone that is loved so much."

Lilley's sister, Tiffany Gibson, also paid tribute to her brother.

"My dad helped him go to flight school and then he worked really hard on that.

"It was a lot tougher than he thought it was gonna be, but he pursued and kicked butt through it, and then loved, he loved, loved, loved what he did."

Samuel Lilley was first officer aboard the flight.

The captain has been named as Jonathan Campos, according to a colleague who spoke to CNN.

Campos became a captain for American Airlines in 2022.

American Airlines CEO Robert Isom has met with the families of victims of Flight 5342, Isom told CNN as he was departing Reagan National Airport's departures lobby.

Isom, accompanied by security and press staff and dressed casually in a blue quarter-zip sweater, nodded solemnly when asked by CNN if he had met with victims' families and planned to meet with investigators.

Champion figure skaters

Washington air crash Potomac

Among those on board the plane were several champion figure skaters, coaches, and family members.

One passenger, figure skater Spencer Lane, aged 16, posted a photo showing the right wing of an aeroplane on his Instagram Stories before the plane took off.

The photo has the caption "ICT -> DCA", which are the airport codes for Wichita Dwight D. Eisenhower National Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

READ MORE: Washington, DC, plane crash: What we know so far

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Lane and his mother Christine Lane had just attended the US Figure Skating Championships and National Development Camp in Wichita, Kansas.

Lane, who was from Barrington, Rhode Island, took part in his first professional show in December with Elin Schran's company, Joy Skate Productions, she said.

"It was a new experience for him. He was nervous. And then after the show ended, he came over and he was just beaming," Schran said.

"He started to discover this connection with the audience and that joy that he was giving to other people through his gift."

In a statement, the Lane family recalled Christine Lane for both her singular talents and her dedication to parenting.

"Christine exuded creativity throughout her life, using her formal graphic design training as a jumping-off point for seemingly endless creative pursuits across areas such as photography, quilting, knitting, and more. She brought even greater passion to her role as a mother to Spencer and his brother Milo," the family said.

The Skating Club of Boston confirmed that coaches Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova, as well as athletes Lane and Jinna Han, were on the flight.

Jin Han, the latter's mother, was on the plane as well, the club said.

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"We watched Jinna just grow up here from just a tiny little tyke into this amazingly mature 13 year old," Skating Club of Boston CEO Doug Zeghibe said.

"A great performer, a great competitor, and off the ice, a great kid."

Shishkova and Naumov, the coaches, were the 1994 world figure skating champions in pairs.

They represented Russia but moved to the US, where they launched successful coaching careers.

Figure skating Olympic medallist Nancy Kerrigan paid tribute to the victims.

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"I'm not sure how to process it," she said.

"We just wanted to be here and be part of our community."

Kerrigan said she had "never seen anyone love skating" as much as the athletes who died in the collision.

She 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."

READ MORE: The recent history of plane crashes in the US

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In neighboring Loudoun County, a coach at a skating club was also identified as among the passengers, Virginia Representative Suhas Subramanyam confirmed.

The club, Ashburn Ice House, said that its "figure skating community has been directly affected," but did not give further details.

'Experienced' helicopter crew

The bodies of all three soldiers who were on the helicopter have been recovered.

Officials said the remains will be at Air Force Mortuary Affairs Operations at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.

That office coordinates the dignified transfer of fallen service members.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet announced.

No identities of the crew have been released.

The three soldiers were doing an annual night proficiency training flight, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said, adding they were a “fairly experienced crew”.

Ryan O'Hara, one of the soldiers on the Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday night's collision, is being remembered by a fellow service member as "one of the finest, most disciplined, committed trainers" he has ever worked with.

Josh Muehlendorf, Chief Warrant Officer 5 with the US Army, worked with O'Hara when he was a senior instructor pilot for his battalion.

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"I've flown dozens of flights with Ryan O'Hara, trying to tap into his expertise on hoist operation," Muehlendorf said.

Muehlendorf told CNN that O'Hara was a crew chief by trade, explaining that his "military occupational specialty was a 15T and he was originally trained to be a maintainer of Black Hawk helicopters."

O'Hara's responsibilities expanded and he began teaching other crew chiefs how to properly execute crew duties in the back of a Black Hawk, Muehlendorf said.

Muehlendorf recalled O'Hara as a man with a deep love for his family.

"I remember being longwinded in a debrief and he had to tell me that he had a date night planned. The debrief promptly ended," Muehlendorf said.

"A huge loss to Army Aviation and the world around him. May he rest in peace, and may our Father be a comfort to his dear family," he continued.

The wife of another one of the helicopter pilots said on Facebook that her husband, Andrew Eaves of Noxubee County Mississippi, was killed.

In a phone call, Carrie Eaves confirmed the post was hers, Associated Press reported.

"We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve," her post read.

Maryland union members

Those killed also included four steamfitters, all members of a United Association union local in suburban Maryland, union leaders said in a social media post after the crash.

“Our focus now is on providing support and care to the families of our Brothers as we continue to gather more information in the coming days,” the post by UA General President Mark McManus and Chris Madello, the business manager of Local 602, said.

School students, parents

Three students from schools in Fairfax County, Virginia and six parents from the district were on board the plane, superintendent Michelle Reid said in a letter to families.

She did not identify them, but said the students were from different schools and that two of the parents were current or former district staffers.

University student

A junior at Cedarville University was one of the passengers on the American Airlines flight involved in the deadly collision, according to the school.

Grace Maxwell was from Wichita, Kansas, according to the university, located in Cedarville, Ohio.

"As you can imagine, the past 24 hours have been very difficult for the Maxwell family and the Cedarville University community," the private Baptist college wrote.

"As a university, we do not desire to turn this tragic event into anything more than a way to honor Grace, her family, and Jesus."

Maxwell's father, Dean Maxwell, said she was returning to campus from her home in Wichita, Kansas, after attending her grandfather's funeral, the Kansas City Star reported.

Maxwell had been working on project this semester to create a hand-stabilising device to help a boy in the area feed himself instead of rely on others, the university said in a statement.

"Grace was a quiet person with a keen interest in helping others through engineering," said Tim Norman, who served as her secondary advisor.

Hunters heading home

Seven people returning from a guided hunting trip in Kansas were killed, according to a Facebook post by Fowl Plains, the guide service.

The Fowl Plains team said they had grown close to the hunters on board the flight over the years and considered them to be family members.

The post doesn't identify the hunters by name, but it says they had spent the past week on a guided hunt, "laughing, talking about our families and sharing memories."

"Heartbroken is an understatement," the company said.

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