Loved ones and communities across the country are mourning the 67 lives lost in a mid-air crash that happened just outside of Reagan National Airport between a passenger jet and a military helicopter on Wednesday.
One of those victims on board the Black Hawk helicopter was crew chief Ryan O'Hara, who was a childhood friend of Reporter Cody Thomas with Scripps News' sister network, Court TV.
Thomas said he and O'Hara met at 9 or 10 years old when he transferred to O'Hara's elementary school. He said he was one of the first friends he met at the new school and he welcomed him with open arms into his friend group at the time.
Thomas said he and O'Hara knew each other through high school, where O'Hara joined the JROTC and was determined to join the military after graduating.
"That's what he always wanted to do," Thomas said. "[He] was never in any trouble. Just a real good-natured, good-hearted guy." Thomas said he felt proud to know O'Hara had followed his dreams of joining the service and becoming a hero.
O'Hara had a wife and 1-year-old child.
News of his tragic death was shared in their school's alumni pages on Facebook. Thomas said he never imagined while watching the coverage of the crash that someone he knew was a victim.
"I was like 'wait a minute. That's my old friend, Ryan.'" said Thomas. "It was like surreal. I had to realize that this was real life. I had to take a step back and kind of take a breath and just really process it all."
"It was the tough. It was real tough," he added.
Thomas said it's been difficult to see the way so many people have polarized the tragedy and wanted to immediately place blame.
"I'm not an aviation expert, but I will just go on to say the Ryan that I knew was very attentive. He cared about people. He cared about the work he was doing...He cared about everything that he loved whether that was work or his family," Thomas said. "This just happens to be a very tragic accident...He would not have let something happen on his watch."
