The federal government is acknowledging the part it played in a deadly midair collision between a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Washington, D.C. in January. Sixty-seven people died as a result of the crash.
What court documents say
In court filings responding to a lawsuit from victims’ families, the U.S. government admits the crew of the Black Hawk failed to establish and maintain proper and safe visual separation with an American Eagle flight that was approaching the runway at Reagan National Airport.
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The crew was conducting a training mission with night-vision goggles on the night of the crash. They “failed to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft,” causing the crash, the DOJ filing reads. It said the same of the American Airlines pilots who failed to avoid the Black Hawk.
The air traffic controller in the tower that night was partially to blame, as well. It said the controller “negligently violated” a Federal Aviation Administration order by “failing to follow the procedures for visual separation” between the helicopter and passenger jet.
At the time of the collision, only one air traffic controller was working that tower, according to multiple reports.
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What the lawsuit says
The lawsuit was filed by victims’ families against American Airlines, PSA Airlines — which operated American Eagle Flight 5342 — and the U.S. government. In it, lawyers call the crash a “wholly avoidable tragedy.”
“The United States admits the Army’s responsibility for the needless loss of life in the crash of an Army helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport, as well as the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedure,” attorney Robert A. Clifford said Wednesday.
That suit argues that it was known or should have been known that the flight was moving through one of the busiest air corridors in the country. It noted that there had been “near-miss” incidents around Reagan National before.
American Airlines and PSA Airlines have filed motions seeking to have the claims dismissed.
Investigation continues
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the deadly crash continues. The final results of the investigation are expected to be released sometime next month, nearly one year after the Jan. 29 crash.
In August, Clark Allen, the operations manager at Reagan National Airport’s DCA air traffic control tower, told the NTSB that the deadly collision was a long time coming.
“I don’t think this accident occurred that night,” Allen said during an investigative hearing. “I think it happened years before we’ve talked about, you know, resources, whether they were available or unavailable at certain time frames, folks being listened to or not being listened to at certain times. This was not that evening. It was a combination over many years that I think that built up to that evening.”
