An American Airlines aircraft takes off from Reagan National Airport in entrance of wreckage from a crash involving an American Eagle aircraft and helicopter over the Potomac river in Alexandria, Virginia, on January 29, 2025.
Allison Robert | The Washington Post | Getty Images
The household of one of many victims of the January 29 fatal collision between an American Airlines, opens new tab regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter that killed 67 folks close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport sued the airline, its subsidiary and the U.S. authorities on Wednesday.
The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Washington additionally names PSA Airlines, which was working the flight, and stated the airlines “manipulated and abused” the arrival charge system on the Washington airport “to force in more of their arrivals per hour at the airport despite its knowledge that doing so severely limited the margins for safety.”
The crash, which occurred simply southeast of the airport over the Potomac River, was the deadliest U.S. air catastrophe in additional than 20 years.
Rachel Crafton, spouse of Casey Crafton, reacts throughout a press convention asserting a lawsuit in opposition to the airline and federal authorities for the demise of Casey Crafton in the course of the lethal midair collision involving the American Eagle flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter close to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January, on the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 24, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
The lawsuit stated the airlines together with the Army and Federal Aviation Administration failed to forestall the “wholly avoidable tragedy.” The go well with stated the Army flight crew didn’t function the Black Hawk helicopter at or under the necessary altitude and the FAA controllers didn’t separate plane in airspace and difficulty security alerts when plane are in an unsafe proximity.
The airlines and authorities companies “utterly failed in their responsibilities to the traveling public,” the go well with stated.
The FAA and Army didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
American stated Flight 5342 was on a regular strategy to Reagan when the Army helicopter — which was above the printed helicopter route altitude — collided with it.
“American has a strong track record of putting the safety of our customers and team members above everything else,” the corporate stated, including it’ll “defend American and PSA Airlines against any legal action claiming the airline caused or contributed to this accident.”
In May, the FAA barred the Army from helicopter flights across the Pentagon after a May 1 shut name that pressured two civilian planes to abort landings. The FAA stated final week these Army helicopter flights stay on maintain.