US government admits Army and air traffic controller failures in deadly midair collision near DC

By Pete Muntean, Katelyn Polantz, CNN

(CNN) — The US government now admits failures by the pilots of an Army Black Hawk helicopter and a controller in the Reagan National Airport tower during the January 29 midair collision over the Potomac River that killed 67 people.

The new admission is part of court documents filed by the Department of Justice in United States District Court in Washington, DC, on Wednesday in a civil lawsuit brought earlier this year by the family of a passenger killed on American Eagle flight 5342.

“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached,” the new filing says, setting up the ability for the families to seek damages.

The concession in the 209-page court filing is an unexpected admission from the military as the National Transportation Safety Board continues its independent investigation of the crash.

A total of 67 people were killed in the midair collision after the Army crew told controllers in the airport control tower that they would maintain “visual separation” from flight 5342 which was about to land at National Airport.

“The United States admits pilots flying PAT25 failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from AE5342,” the court filing says.

The US government also admits in the suit that an air traffic controller in the tower “did not comply” with an FAA order governing air traffic control procedure.

“The United States is admitting the Army and FAA’s responsibility for the needless loss in the crash of an Army helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport. However, the government rightfully acknowledges that it is not the only entity responsible for this deadly crash,” plaintiff attorney Robert Clifford said in a statement in response to the filing.

There’s still a fair amount of finger-pointing and legal distinctions the Justice Department is making in court, despite its admissions on Wednesday.

In the lengthy response to the lawsuit, federal government lawyers admit the Black Hawk crew’s choices in flight were a “cause-in-fact and a proximate cause of the accident and the death.”

They also argue that the federal air traffic controllers around the DC-area airport can’t be held liable because they weren’t the cause of the crash.

The commercial airlines are still fighting the lawsuit, asking for it to be dismissed by the court, and have not made the same admissions the federal government did on Wednesday.

During public hearings this summer, the NTSB focused on cultural issues in the Army’s 12th Aviation Battalion, possible errors in the altimeters on board the helicopter, and whether the layout of helicopter routes near the airport created an accident waiting to happen.

A final report and probable cause from the NTSB is not expected until next month at the earliest.

Lawyers representing victims’ families say the crash was caused by “collective failures” by the US government that “caused the mid-air collision that resulted in the senseless and tragic deaths of 67 individuals” and that government personnel – including controllers in the air traffic control tower – “should have known, that the airport approaches, and the airspace in the vicinity of Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (‘DCA’), presented certain safety risks, specifically including the possibility of a mid-air collision.”

They also maintain that the crew of the helicopter on a low-altitude training mission were using night-vision goggles which “unreasonably distracted them” and “limited their field of vision.”

The federal government, in its filing, admitted “the airspace near DCA is busy at times and the risk of midair collision cannot be reduced to zero.”

In a statement, a US Army spokesperson said, “The Army understands and respects the need for families to receive more information regarding the tragic DCA crash. We acknowledge that many individuals are still seeking answers about the incident and the measures being taken to prevent a similar tragedy.

A spokesperson for the Justice Department declined to comment beyond the court filing.

CNN has also reached out to the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines for comment.

This story has been updated with additional details.

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