Parents of pilot killed in DC plane crash praise Trump’s modernization of air traffic control system

Published May 9, 2025 11:54am ET



The parents of Sam Lilley, the American Airlines pilot killed in the Potomac plane crash, praised the modernization of the nation’s air traffic control system under President Donald Trump.

“I just really want to thank President Trump for his leadership in putting forth this program because we want to really make sure that no other family has to go through the loss that our family and the other 66 families have gone through,” Tim Lilley, Sam Lilley’s father, said, during an appearance with his wife on Fox News’s Fox & Friends.

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