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yesterday

U.S. Admits Liability in D.C. Midair Crash That Killed 67

Victims’ families can now pursue damages under the government’s admission of negligence.

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Maps are seen during a U.S. Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on the midair collision involving American Airlines 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) on January 29, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
A crane removes airplane wreckage from the Potomac River, where American Airlines flight 5342 collided with a US Army military helicopter, near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on February 3, 2025.
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Overview

  • The Justice Department’s 209-page filing concedes the United States breached a duty of care and says the Army Black Hawk crew failed to maintain safe visual separation, calling their actions a cause-in-fact and a proximate cause of the crash.
  • The filing states a Reagan National tower controller did not comply with FAA visual-separation procedures, though the government denies that controller conduct was the proximate cause of the accident.
  • Government lawyers say both the helicopter crew and the American Eagle pilots failed to maintain vigilance to see and avoid each other, while American and PSA have asked the court to dismiss the claims against them.
  • The collision on Jan. 29 sent both aircraft into the Potomac River, killing 64 people on the jet and three on the helicopter, in the deadliest U.S. commercial aviation accident in more than two decades.
  • Regulatory and legislative responses include FAA restrictions on non‑essential helicopter operations near Reagan National and Senate passage of the ROTOR Act, as the NTSB’s final report remains pending.