Dad of pilot who died in American Airlines plane crash calls for changes as new information reveals potential cause behind collision

The father of the First Officer who died in last month's devastating plane crash in Washington is calling for changes to aviation laws.

On January 29, an American Airlines commercial plane and a US army helicopter collided with one another at Ronald Reagan International Airport, near Washington D.C.

There were 67 people in total on both aircrafts, all of whom died in the ordeal, making it America's deadliest air disaster since 2001.

One of the deceased was 28-year-old First Officer Sam Lilley - one of the pilots on American Airlines Flight 5342.

His father, Timothy Lilley, has now spoken out and said that Sam was 'doing great' in both is career and personal life, with him having been reportedly set to be married.

Timothy served 20 years in the army flying Black Hawk helicopters, which was the same type of aircraft that collided with the American Airlines plane on that fateful day last month.

With his flying experience and Sam's tragic passing in mind, Timothy is now calling for changes to aviation laws.

Sam Lilley was a first officer flying the American Airlines plane last month (Timothy Lilley/Fox News)

One change he wants brought in is to stop military aircrafts from operating at civilian airports, as well as revamping training for pilots and requiring aircraft to have an operational Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) while inside Class B airspace.

As it stands, military aircraft are not required to be equipped with TCAS when flying in Class B airspace, says Timothy.

Timothy's calls come after new information about what may have caused the crash was recently revealed.

Giving an update on the investigation on Friday (February 14), National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Jennifer Homendy said: "We are looking at the possibility of there may be bad data."

One of the pilots reportedly thought they were at 400 feet, and the other thought they were at 300 feet.

Wreckage from American Airlines flight 5342 seen being pulled from the Potomac River (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Hemendy continued: "In addition to this, the transmission from the tower, that instructed the helicopter to go behind the plane, may not have been heard by the crew the pilot may have keyed her radio at the same second and stepped on the transmission from ATC."

Elsewhere, it's been revealed that the army helicopter had its Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast (ADS-B) turned off at the time of the collision, said Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

The ADS-B is a type of technology that enables an aircraft to broadcast their position, altitude, speed, and other data to ground stations and other aircraft.

Cruz went on to argue that 'there was no national security reason for ADS-B to be turned off' on the military helicopter.

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