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The U.S. government acknowledged Wednesday that both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Army contributed to a midair collision over the Potomac River near Washington, D.C., last January that killed 67 people.
In a new legal filing responding to a lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims, government attorneys conceded the FAA violated procedures dictating when controllers can rely on pilots to maintain visual separation, adding that the Army helicopter pilots failed to “maintain vigilance” to avoid the descending passenger jet.
“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached,” the filing stated.
On Jan. 29, an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair with an American Airlines passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport, killing 64 people on American Eagle Flight 5342 and three aboard the military helicopter.
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Emergency response teams including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others, assess airplane wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport on January 30, 2025 in Arlington, Virginia. An American Airlines flight from Wichita, Kansas collided with a helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
The estate of Casey Crafton, one of the passengers killed, filed the first lawsuit in September regarding the crash over the nation’s capital, with his wife Rachel and family leading the legal action.
U.S. attorneys admitted in the filing that the helicopter and passenger jet pilots “failed to maintain vigilance” and the Black Hawk pilots “failed to maintain proper and safe visual” separation from the American Airlines craft.
The local air traffic controller also failed to comply with FAA procedures, the attorneys said.
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Wreckage from American Airlines flight 5342 is pulled from the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport on Monday, February 3, 2025. The plane collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, killing 67 people. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Robert Clifford, the attorney for plaintiff Rachel Crafton, reacted to the government’s concessions, saying that the families and their counsel will “carefully study these new filings.”
“These families remain deeply saddened and anchored in the grief caused by this tragic loss of life,” Clifford said in a statement. “During this holiday season, the families are especially disheartened by the shattered joyfulness without their loved ones.”
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Wreckage is seen in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, on Thursday, Jan. 30. (Petty Officer 1st Class Brandon Giles, U.S. Coast Guard via AP)
The lawsuit also targeted American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for their roles in the disaster, but both have filed motions to dismiss.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release its report on the cause of the crash in January.
Digital reached out to the U.S Army and the FAA for comment.
