U.S. government admits fault in midair collision that killed 67 people near D.C. airport
The U.S. government admitted in a court filing Wednesday that it was partially at fault in a midair collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that killed 67 people earlier this year.
In the 209-page filing by the Justice Department, government lawyers wrote that the U.S. "admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident on January 29, 2025."
The filing states that the crew of the Army Black Hawk helicopter — which was conducting a training mission with night-vision goggles on the night of the crash — failed to establish and maintain proper and safe visual separation with a regional American Eagle flight that was approaching runway 33 at Reagan National Airport near Washington, D.C. American Eagle and PSA Airlines are subsidiaries of American Airlines.
The Army Black Hawk helicopter pilots "failed to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid other aircraft and their failure was a cause-infact and proximate cause of the accident," the filing states.
It was the deadliest plane crash in the U.S. since November 2001.
The Justice Department also identified an air traffic controller in the DCA tower as partially to blame for the accident, arguing 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 accident, there was one controller managing helicopter traffic in the area and departures and arrivals at DCA, according to multiple sources.
The extraordinary revelation by the U.S. government was in response to a lawsuit filed by the family of Casey Crafton, one of the passengers on the jetliner.
Meanwhile, the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the deadly crash is still ongoing. The final results of the investigation and recommendations were expected before the anniversary of the crash.
Tim and Sheri Lilley, the parents of First Officer Sam Lilley, who was in the cockpit of American Eagle Flight No. 5342 the night of the crash, maintain their son did everything right leading up to the collision.
"We stand by the facts presented at the NTSB's investigative hearing, which confirmed that AA5342 Captain Jonathan Campos and our son, First Officer Sam Lilley, complied with all required federal procedures and industry-standard operating practices," the Lilleys wrote.