SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) — Dozens of people were killed in a crash last week when a Blackhawk helicopter collided with a passenger plane in Washington D.C, and WSAV has learned that one of them, a Blackhawk mechanic, has deep ties to the Savannah community.
Ryan O’Hara was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield from 2020-2023. His parents, Gary and Mary O'Hara, said they moved to nearby Midway to be close to him in hopes that, after his time stationed in D.C, he would return.
"The idea was that we were hoping it was going to be an extended home, family home, and we could all potentially live out here together. Me, Ryan, Taryn," Gary O'Hara said.
Though, that’s not what happened.
"I'm watching the news as the story is breaking," O'Hara's father said. "So, immediately, I'm texting him, and the text message comes through with an error. It says cannot deliver to this service. So, now I'm really starting to panic. There are many helicopters in his crew. They could all be up in the air doing different things. It didn't have to be him. But I just knew, I just knew it was him."
The O'Hara's said the high-profile nature of the plane crash made the situation all the more surreal.
"It's one thing to hear about your child passing away. It's another thing to be actually witnessing it and then witnessing it over and over and over," they said.
In the next few days, news coverage became focused on claims from the White House that DEI initiatives in the military were to blame for what happened.
"You had a pilot problem from the standpoint of the helicopter," President Donald Trump, said. "They actually came out with a directive, 'too white' and we want the people that are competent."
Mara said that she didn't think it was the time to point fingers.
"I just don't think that was the time to even bring things like that up," she said. "All the family members of the people on the plane and the three crew members on the Blackhawk, they're all grieving badly. Of course, we'd like answers, we'd like to know what happened, but not to point fingers at people, to learn something from it and make sure it doesn't happen again."
Ryan's parents described him as a decorated soldier, a loving son and a proud father.
Though, most of all, they described him as someone who was always willing to put others before himself.
"I got messages through Facebook from people that I never even met that worked with Ryan," Gary said. "One guy told me, I met your son, we were at base together. My car died, the clutch went out, and your son offered to bring the car on base, and we stripped the whole car apart and fixed it. He's like, 'I didn't even know who the guy was, and he spent his whole weekend rebuilding my car.' I mean, that's really who Ryan was."
Ryan leaves behind one 14-month-old son and a wife.
"That little baby isn't going to get to know how wonderful he really was, but, for me, he looks just like Ryan," Gary said.