ORMOND BEACH, Fla. — Flags are flying half-staff from sunrise through sunset Tuesday to honor the life of Captain Jonathan Campos.

What You Need To Know

  • Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie requested the Governor’s office to have flags at half-staff today to honor Capt. Jonathan Campos legacy

  • Campos was the pilot of the American Airlines crew on the flight that collided with a U.S. Army helicopter last month. There were no survivors

  • On Monday, Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a memorandum directing all U.S. and Florida flags in Volusia County to be flown at half-staff Tuesday from sunrise to sunset

  • Jonathan's friends were moved by the gesture

Campos was the pilot of the American Airlines crew on the flight that collided with a U.S. Army helicopter last month. There were no survivors.

As Nicholas Shaw looks at a crack on the wall of his business in South Daytona, he is now grateful for the memory behind it. 

“He (Campos) accidentally broke the wall, and then those are his. That’s his handprint right there,” Shaw said. “I think we’re going to cut it out and frame it. Definitely do something to preserve that because what a memory, right?” 

Shaw reflected on his time at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University with Campos.

“We met in 2008. We were both freshmen at Embry-Riddle and we kind of connected because of our love of cars. And then we became like extremely close friends,” he said.

He described Campos as a great friend, always willing to help others. 

“He loved to make people laugh. He was actually very helpful. Like he would do anything for anybody. He’d always love the satisfaction of knowing he can help somebody. I think that was more rewarding to him than anything else,” Shaw said.

United Airlines pilot Bryan Dauchy first met Campos through Shaw in 2011. He stayed good friends with Campos through 2016 when he moved away to a different area for work.

Dauchy was the one who shared the devastating news with Shaw last month.

“The pilot community is a very small group, so we all started messaging each other like, ‘hey, are you okay?’” he said. “Both of our hearts just kind of sunk. Had to think about, you know, the reality of what it was.”

“I think everybody misses him. You know, we all miss him here. He’d poke his head in and out of this business almost whenever he was around and not flying,” Shaw said.

After learning more about Campos, Ormond Beach Mayor Jason Leslie requested the Governor’s office to have flags at half-staff today to honor his legacy.

“There were a lot of great stories and things people said, a lot of nice things about him. So, as I was thinking a little bit more about this, saying, you know, how can we really honor him? And I asked the city manager if we can put the flags at half-mast. And she says the only people that can do that is the governor’s office or and or the president,” Leslie said.

On Monday, he received this memorandum directing all U.S. and Florida flags in Volusia County to be flown at half-staff today.

“Our request was originally just for the city of Ormond Beach here, and then when they expanded it to Volusia County, I was really excited to see that because, you know, we now have expanded that recognition all throughout the county,” Leslie said.

Friends of Campos were moved by the gesture.

“I think it’s an amazing thing to do.He was a really great person. And now it’s good to see that the community is also rallying around him and that we’re doing something here locally as well,” Dauchy said.

“Very happy to hear that. Like definitely that people are honoring him and miss him and want to show some type of respect because he was a great dude, great pilot, great friend,” Shaw said.