Overview

• Rachel Crafton, the widow of passenger Casey Crafton, filed a wrongful-death and negligence suit in U.S. District Court in Washington against the U.S. government, American Airlines, and PSA Airlines.
• The complaint cites NTSB findings that the Army Black Hawk exceeded the 200‑foot helicopter route limit and that its altimeter understated true altitude by roughly 80–100 feet.
• Plaintiffs allege the FAA ignored years of near misses and heavy controller workloads, that Army helicopters operated with inadequate safeguards including ADS‑B gaps, and that ATC failed to issue safety alerts the night of the crash.
• The suit contends American and PSA reduced safety margins through dense scheduling, insufficient pilot training for helicopter conflicts, acceptance of Runway 33, and a delayed response to a traffic alert 19 seconds before impact.
• American says Flight 5342 was on a routine approach and blames the helicopter’s altitude, the FAA says it has tightened helicopter operations at Reagan National since the crash, and more families are expected to file and consolidate cases as the NTSB final report is pending next year.