(EDITOR’S NOTE: Image contains graphic content) In this U.S. Coast Guard document, the Coast Guard investigates a plane wreck on the Potomac River on January 30, 2025 in Washington, DC.
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The United States government has admitted responsibility for a fatal mid-air collision in January between an Army Black Hawk helicopter and an incoming plane. American airlines regional plane over the Potomac River that killed all 67 people on board the two planes.
“The United States admits that it owed Plaintiffs a duty of care, which it breached, thereby causing the tragic accident of January 29, 2025,” the Justice Department said in a court filing Wednesday.
American Eagle Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, was approaching Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport at an altitude of about 300 feet when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter carrying three people collided with the commercial airliner.
The Jan. 29 crash was the worst air disaster in the United States since 2001 and led to restrictions on helicopter flights around Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, where the airspace is among the most congested in the country.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading the investigation into the crash, criticized the FAA during a hearing this summer into the crash for failing to consider safety risks in the area as well as chronic understaffing.
The U.S. Army helicopter crew failed to avoid the American plane, operated by the carrier’s subsidiary PSA Airlines, the Justice Department said in the filing.
The crew also failed to comply with altitude restrictions in the area, the Justice Department said in its filing. He admitted that Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers failed to separate the planes and issue alerts when the planes were in close proximity to each other.
“Out of respect for the deceased, their families, and the ongoing investigation, it is inappropriate for the Army to comment on litigation,” the Army said in a statement. “Once the NTSB completes its work and legal proceedings are concluded, the Army looks forward to sharing updates on changes implemented, lessons learned, and actions taken to honor the victims.”
The FAA did not immediately comment.
American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The airline is also named a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the family of one of the crash victims, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Washington.