DC plane crash: Data shows Army helicopter may have been too high
Officials said five people were working in the control tower at the time of the collision between the plane and the helicopter.
The U.S. government has accepted responsibility for a crash between a military helicopter and a passenger plane that killed 67 people near Washington, D.C., earlier this year, according to court documents filed on Dec. 17.
The government’s admission is part of a wrongful death lawsuit filed in September by the widow of Casey Crafton, one of the victims who died in the crash. The lawsuit blames the government, American Airlines and its regional partner PSA Airlines for their roles in the Jan. 29 midair collision.
In a 209-page court filing, the government said it was one of the defendants liable for damages from the crash. The filing states that Army air crews failed to properly operate the helicopters and that Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers “failed in their two most important priorities: separating aircraft in the airspace and issuing safety alerts when aircraft came dangerously close to each other.”
“Defendants’ collective failures resulted in a mid-air collision that resulted in the senseless and tragic deaths of 67 people,” the filing, seen by USA TODAY, said.
“Prior to and on that night of the mid-air collision, Defendants knew or should have known that Flight AE 5342 was transiting through one of the busiest airspaces in the United States, and that the proximity of airports and the airspace near Washington, D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (“DCA”) posed certain safety risks, including, among other things, the possibility of a mid-air collision,” the filing continued.
American Airlines Flight 5342 was landing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the night of January 29 when it collided with an Army Blackhawk helicopter on a routine training mission.
Both planes crashed into the Potomac River below, killing all 64 people on board the plane and three in the helicopter. Victims of the accident included members of the U.S. figure skating community and their families who were returning home from a competition in Wichita, Kansas.
The crash was the first fatal commercial aircraft crash in the United States since 2009 and raised concerns about the country’s aging air traffic control system and aviation safety.
What does a wrongful death lawsuit allege?
The lawsuit, filed Sept. 24 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, claims the airlines involved in the crash should have known about the dangers of flying into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. The airport was previously considered one of the most dangerous in the country due to heavy military aviation traffic in the area.
“Defendants were required to exercise caution when operating and/or controlling aircraft in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport. However, these defendants completely failed in their responsibility to the traveling public,” the complaint states.
The complaint further alleges that the airlines “manipulated and abused” the airport’s arrival fee system to “force an increase in the number of arrivals per hour at the airport, even though they knew that doing so would severely limit their safety margins.”
The lawsuit also alleged that Army air crews failed to operate the helicopters below duty altitudes and that FAA air traffic controllers failed to separate aircraft within the airspace and issue safety alerts when aircraft were in dangerous proximity.
At the time of the incident, the Army helicopter was flying above its maximum altitude level and was not broadcasting its Automatic Dependent Surveillance and Broadcast System, also known as ADS-B.
National Transportation Safety Board investigating crash
Thousands of near-miss incidents involving helicopters and commercial aircraft occurred in the same area near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from 2021 to 2024, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The NTSB investigation into this accident is still ongoing. Since the incident, authorities have held a series of hearings on the issue.
After the crash, the FAA instituted procedures to limit the mixed traffic of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft near airports, and took steps such as eliminating the use of visual separation within eight miles of an airport.
In May, the FAA banned Army helicopter flights around the Pentagon after two civilian planes had to be grounded.
Contributors: Michelle Del Rey, Janine Santucci, Zach Wictor, Christopher Kang, USA TODAY. Reuters
