Lilleys See Safety Bill Progress, Need for Further Action

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.

In addition, both Lilleys left a video message updating attendees at this year’s summit on their progress over the past year, with Sheri pledging, “We are in this for the long haul. We are going to be engaging with anyone who wants to hear our opinions and our experience.”

As far as progress on Capitol Hill, Tim, a safety advocate who was a former U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot and later a pilot-in-command for Flexjet, said they are hopeful that comprehensive aviation safety legislation designed to address all 50 of the NTSB’s recommendations from the accident, the Alert Act, will receive a vote on the House floor in the next few weeks.

However, Sheri noted that the Alert Act approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee last month is substantially different than the first version offered. The initial version did not adequately address what the Lilleys believed were the two most critical recommendations from the NTSB involving ADS-B In mandates and the military’s ability to waive transmission of ADS-B. “Those were the two primary things we wanted to see in,” Sheri added—“legislation to tighten up on those two.”

While improved, Tim added that once the Alert Act passes (it is expected to receive House approval), the Lilleys are hoping to see a couple of minor adjustments in the Senate.

As far as advocacy beyond the Alert Act, Tim said, “We’ll continue to advocate for aviation safety,” suggesting that they want to look at transponders and emergency vehicles crossing runways.

Sheri added that based on their experience, they also have recommendations about emergency response planning—“how you prepare for a situation like this with some of your customers and employees.” 

In addition, they would like to see an update on the Disaster Family Assistance Act, the framework under which the NTSB assists families following accidents. “It was authored two decades ago. It does not accommodate current times. It doesn’t anticipate social media and all sorts of various aspects,” Sheri added. “That level of support wasn’t needed historically, but we know now that if an incident happens, there are going to be people posting on TikTok before you even have an opportunity to notify anyone. So we have lots of opinions formed over the last 14 months, and we have a passion, as you guys know, for helping you improve.”