Georgia House Majority Caucus Whip James Burchett (R-Waycross) today issued the following statement regarding the mid-air collision between a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter and American Airlines flight 5342 enroute from Wichita, Kansas to Washington D.C.
“Like all Americans, I mourn the loss of life in this tragic incident that claimed the lives of at least two Georgians, Ryan O’Hara and Sam Lilley.
Tragedies like this have an even greater impact on all of us when they hit close to home.
Sam was from Richmond Hill near Savannah, while Ryan went on from the Parkview High School Junior ROTC near Atlanta to serve our country as an Army aviator.
While we will no doubt learn what went wrong and what we can do to prevent accidents like this in the coming weeks, I join all Georgians today in mourning the loss of these two young men and the dozens of others who lost their lives in this tragedy.”
Sam Lilley, the first officer onboard American Airlines Flight 5342, was a graduate of Richmond Hill High School and Georgia Southern University. As an aviator, Sam was following in the footsteps of his father, a former Army helicopter pilot. Sam was engaged to be married.
Ryan O’Hara was a 2014 graduate of Parkview High School in Lilburn, serving as a Blackhawk Helicopter Crew Chief. He leaves behind a wife and one-year-old son.
