The US Department of Justice late on Wednesday said the federal government was liable in the fatal Jan. 29 collision of a US Army Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
The government admitted it “owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident” and that the pilots of the helicopter and regional jet “failed to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid each other.”
A Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) air traffic controller also did not comply with an order and as a result of both agencies’ conduct, the US was liable for damages, the justice department said.
Photo: AFP
Robert Clifford, an attorney for the family of one of the victims of the crash that filed the suit, said the filing showed “the United States admits the Army’s responsibility for the needless loss of life in the crash ... as well as the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedure.”
Clifford added that the “government, however, rightfully acknowledges that it is not the only entity responsible for this deadly crash, and, indeed, it asserts that its conduct is but one of several causes of the loss of life that January evening.”
American Airlines on Wednesday filed a separate motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying it was sympathetic to the families’ “desire to obtain redress for this tragedy,” but the “proper legal recourse is not against American. It is against the United States government... The court should therefore dismiss American from this lawsuit.”
The FAA restricted helicopter flights in March after the National Transportation Safety Board said their presence posed an “intolerable risk” to civilian aircraft near Reagan National. In May, the FAA barred the US Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a close call that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.
On Wednesday, the US Senate unanimously passed legislation to tighten military helicopter safety rules.
Retired pilot Richard Levy, an aviation litigation expert witness, said the government’s admission of some responsibility less than a year after the crash is unusual, especially considering the amount of money that could be involved in the case.
“They would not have done that if there was a doubt in their mind about anything the controller did or that the Army did,” said Levy.
Additional reporting by AP
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