Crews in Midair Crash Included 2nd-Generation Pilot and Flight Attendant ‘Full of Life’

Sam Lilley, (L), pilots a small airplane that took off from Savannah, Ga., on Aug, 6, 2022, for a flight to reach the 1,500 flight hours required for Lilley to begin training to become an airline pilot. Kaitlin Marie Sells via AP

ATLANTA—Sam Lilley knew he wanted to fly and began training to be a pilot, like his father, right out of college.

“You don’t really expect to meet people that find their purpose so early on in life, and Sam found his in flying,” said Kaitlin Sells, who met Lilley while they were students at Georgia Southern University.