American Eagle pilot Jonathan Campos’s heartbreaking final words to family as he boarded flight before DC plane crash

The pilot of the doomed American Airlines jet told his family how much he was looking forward to being together on a cruise next week, his final words as he boarded the plane before the devastating DC plane crash.

Jonathan Campos’ final words were revealed by his tearful uncle John Lane during an interview from his home in Brooklyn, New York.

Lane said that Campos, 34, was ‘living his dream’ while working as a pilot and even played with toy planes when he was a boy.

‘He was such a good kid,’ Lane told DailyMail.com.

‘I spoke to him as he was boarding the plane. We spoke for 10 minutes. I can’t believe it. He sounded really happy.

‘He was looking forward to going on a cruise next week on the Icon of the Seas, the cruise ship.

‘Ten family members were going to fly to Florida to take the trip with him. It was going to be a big celebration.’

Doomed Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas – carrying 67 passengers and crew – collided in a massive fireball with an Army Black Hawk helicopter 400ft above the Potomac River as it was approaching Reagan National Airport just before 9pm Wednesday.

Among the dead were Campos, First Officer Samuel Lilley, 29, who was newly engaged and just months away from being promoted to captain.

Flight attendants Ian Epstein and Danasia Elder were also among those killed.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Lane said that Jonathan Campos had played with toy planes when he was a boy and ‘loved’ his job.

Lane said: ‘He loved flying, it was his dream. He was living his dream. He played with toy planes when he was a kid. He wanted to qualify to fly bigger planes. We’re just sick right now. His mother isn’t doing well.’

Campos’ mother has left her home nearby and is currently in Washington to make the arrangements for his body.

The pilot also loved playing basketball and football and lived in Orlando with his girlfriend, Lane said.

He grew up in a small apartment in Coney Island, a working-class part of Brooklyn, and went to flight school six years ago.

‘He did so well with his life, we were all so proud of him.

‘We’re all devastated. It’s such a loss.’

For university, Campos attended Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University in New Jersey.

The college said in a statement that staff were ‘deeply saddened’ to hear of his death and that he studied Aeronautical Science before graduating in 2015.

‘Our thoughts are with his family and the families and loved ones of all impacted by this tragic accident,’ the statement said.

Campos also attended the Epic Flight Academy in New Smyrna Beach, Florida, where he earned his certification as a flight instructor, according to the academy.

The NTSB, the accident investigative agency, has recovered the ‘Black Box’ recorders from both aircraft involved in the crash, which was the worst aviation disaster in the US in 16 years.

The staggering death toll has resulted in more than 40 bodies being pulled from the icy waters, with police divers hunting for the rest.

Spencer Lane, 16, Brielle Beyer, 12, and Jinna Han, 13, are some of the young American figure skaters who lost their lives in the wreck.

The famed Russian skating couple Evgenia Shishkova, 53, and Vadim Naumov, 56, were also on the plane.

Former beauty pageant contestant and civil rights attorney Kiah Duggins, 30, had been visiting her mother in her hometown of Wichita and was returning to Washington when the plane went down.

She had earned a degree from Harvard Law School and served as a White House intern under former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn initiative.

Grace Maxwell, a 20-year-old biomedical engineering student at Cedarville University in Ohio, was on the doomed flight returning back to school.

And in a tragic development, an entire Virginia family of four was wiped out.

The Livingstons, from Ashburn, were on their way home from Wichita, Kansas, after 11-year-old Alydia and 14-year-old Everly had participated in the 2025 US Figure Skating Championships.

The two sisters died in the horrific crash on Flight 5342 alongside their dad, Peter, and their mom, Donna.

And from the Black Hawk Army helicopter, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, has been identified as the pilot on board, alongside Eaves’ fellow soldier Ryan O’Hara who was named the crew chief on the flight.

Insiders and a preliminary internal FAA report have started to reveal catastrophic failures leading up to the aviation disaster.

That night, an air traffic controller was left to handle both helicopter traffic and manage planes – which should have been a divided duty – according to The New York Times.

Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9.30pm, according to the report.

After 9.30pm the duties are typically combined and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.

But a supervisor reportedly decided to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.

The FAA report said that staffing configuration ‘was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’.

It remains unclear why the supervisor allowed the worker to clock off early on Wednesday night, just before the midair collision.

It has also emerged that the Army helicopter, which was carrying three soldiers, involved in the collision might have also deviated from its approved flight path.

Sources said the pilot did not stick to the path and was a half-mile off course as well as being at an altitude above 300 feet – which exceeded the approved 200 feet.