Government admits fault in Flight 5342 midair collision that killed 67
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The U.S. government acknowledged Wednesday that both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Army contributed to a mid-air 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 lawyers acknowledged that the FAA violated procedures that determine when controllers can rely on pilots to maintain visual separation, adding that Army helicopter pilots failed to “exercise caution” to avoid the descending passenger jet.
“The United States acknowledges that it owed a duty of care to the Plaintiffs and breached it,” the filing said.
On January 29, a Black Hawk Army helicopter collided mid-air with an American Airlines passenger plane near Ronald Reagan Washington International Airport., 64 people on American Eagle Flight 5342 and three people on the military helicopter died.
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Emergency responders including Washington, DC Fire and EMS, DC Police and others assess aircraft wreckage in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on January 30, 2025. An American Airlines plane departing from Wichita, Kansas, collided with a helicopter while approaching Ronald Reagan National Airport. (Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images) (Andrew Harnik/Getty)
The estate of Casey Crafton, one of the slain passengers, filed the first lawsuit related to the crash in the nation’s capital in September, along with his wife, Rachel, and her family.
US lawyers admitted in the filing that helicopter and passenger jet pilots “failed to exercise caution” and that Black Hawk pilots failed to maintain “appropriate and safe visual separation” from American Airlines aircraft.
The local air traffic controller also failed to comply with FAA procedures, 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, Feb. 3, 2025. The aircraft collided with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter on January 29, killing 67 people. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)
Plaintiff Rachel Crafton’s attorney, Robert Clifford, reacted to the government’s prerogatives, saying the families and their attorneys “will carefully review these new applications.”
“These families are deeply saddened and unmoored by the pain caused by this tragic loss of life,” Clifford said in a statement. he said. “This holiday season, families are especially discouraged by the shattering of happiness in the absence of loved ones.”
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The wreckage was spotted in the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Thursday, January 30. (Pet 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 filed motions to dismiss.
The National Transportation Safety Board is expected to release its report on the cause of the crash in January.
Fox News Digital has reached out to the U.S. Army and FAA for comment.
