Aviation Can’t Keep Learning Safety Lessons the Hard Way

Ignored warnings, known risks, and a tragedy that never should have happened.

Tim Lilley

Thursday, January 29, 2026 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

Edited By:

Ryan Ewing

NTSB investigators inspect wreckage of CRJ-700. [Credit: NTSB]

Key Takeaways:

The author, Tim Lilley, whose son died in American Airlines Flight 5342, argues the tragedy was a preventable outcome of a culture that normalized unsafe practices and failed to address known risks and available technology.
A critical safety gap was the incomplete adoption of the 2008 NTSB recommendation for both ADS-B Out and ADS-B In in congested airspace, which the author believes would have prevented the accident.
He advocates for a shift from reactive to proactive, data-driven aviation safety regulation and urges Congress to pass the bipartisan Rotorcraft Operations Transparency and Oversight Reform (ROTOR) Act to mandate proven technology like ADS-B In.

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Tim Lilley, the father of American Airlines Flight 5342 First Officer Sam Lilley, is a retired U.S. Army Black Hawk pilot and current commercial jet captain.

I have flown military helicopters and commercial jets for most of my adult life. I have come to understand risk. I understand complex systems. I also understand, in a way no parent ever should, what it means when those systems fail.