On January 29, 2025, we saw a devastating accident near Washington National Airport (DCA), whereby an Army Sikorsky UH-60 helicopter collided with an American Eagle CRJ-700, leading to 67 fatalities. This is the first crash of a US airliner since 2009, and it’s just horribly tragic.
As you’d expect, airline crashes typically lead to lawsuits, and the first such suit from the family members of one of the deceased has just been filed. What I find interesting is which parties are being sued, since it’s not necessarily what you’d expect.
Family of American Eagle crash victim file federal lawsuit
On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, the family members of one of the people killed in January’s American Eagle crash have filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Washington. The lawsuit alleges “wrongful death and survival claims, jointly and severally,” against American Airlines, PSA Airlines (the regional subsidiary operating the flight), the Federal Aviation Administration, and the Army.
The lawsuit requests a trial by jury, and monetary damages from the airline and the government, with compensation to be decided by a judge. It’s of course not surprising to see a lawsuit filed over a plane crash, as that’s pretty standard.
What I find interesting here is which parties are being sued. While a final report on the crash hasn’t yet been released, we know that a military helicopter crashed into the American Eagle regional jet while it was on approach, and the American Eagle pilots were following instructions. There’s no indication that the American Eagle crew did anything wrong, which contributed materially to this outcome.
The lawsuit alleges that the crash could’ve been prevented if the Army and FAA had better managed the airspace around the airport, given the number of close calls we’ve seen there in recent times. As the attorney for the family explained:
“Knowing that there was massive congestion and these number of near-misses, we turned to the FAA and their responsibility to properly provide air traffic control that was not fully provided and properly provided on that evening.”
Fair enough, right? But here’s where it gets interesting. The lawsuit also blames American, as the airline exposed its customers to the dangers of the airport, and continued to seek more gates there, despite having knowledge of the number of near misses in the airspace. As the attorney explained:
“Operators of a motor vehicle can’t run through a red light. Operators of a commercial aircraft cannot run through yellow lights, and they ran blatantly for years, many red lights here by allowing these planes to operate in the navigable space at DCA, knowing that there was massive congestion, that there was a massive intersection between military traffic regarding runways that were unique and required special training that they failed to provide to their pilots, the complaint against American is set out in a way that emphasizes their responsibility.”
For a different perspective, the widow of one of the victims shared the following everyday example of how American is responsible in this situation:
“The lack of attention on the airlines – it’s been a point of frustration for me. If you look at the 15,000-plus near misses over a few years that the NTSB reported in their preliminary report and you look at the volume of flights that American Airlines has in and out of that airport every single day, I kind of liken it to imagine you put your child on a school bus every day and three times a week, the cement truck runs a stop sign and almost crashed into the bus.”
“After three years, the bus drivers start complaining and say, ‘hey, this isn’t really safe.’ But the bus keeps going and going. When that day comes when a cement truck hits your kid and your kid dies, don’t you blame the bus company a little bit for the fact that they had this ongoing risk and didn’t do anything about it?”
I’m curious what comes of this lawsuit against American
When I first saw mention of American being sued for the accident, I was skeptical. While I still think it’s a stretch, I get the point being made, and I think it’s not totally unreasonable. I guess it comes down to hindsight being 20/20, plus differing opinions as to which party is responsible for airspace safety (the government vs. corporations).
Of course in recent years, it feels like we’ve heard about endless close calls at airports, and sometimes it’s hard to know whether there has actually been a material uptick, or if the way we consume media has simply changed. Either way, there’s no doubt that the airspace around DCA has been way too congested, and this was an accident waiting to happen.
That being said, should the individual airline operators be accountable for that congestion having fatal consequences, or should the government, which decides on traffic levels, be responsible? I certainly think the government has a lot more responsibility here, as you’re not going to find a for-profit airline that chooses not to fly to a certain airport because it’s maybe a little less safe than another.
For that matter, how could one argue that airlines aren’t operating with the highest possible margins of safety, when the entire country didn’t see a single major commercial plane crash in 16 years? I think that shows an incredible commitment to safety.
I suppose the occasional lawsuit along these lines is a price of doing business. So I’m curious what ends up coming of this. Though quite honestly, we’ll probably never know, as I suspect this will be settled out of court.
Bottom line
Family members of one of the victims of January’s tragic American Eagle crash at Washington National Airport have just filed a lawsuit. They’re not just suing the FAA and the Army, but they’re also suing the airline.
I think the logic for suing the FAA and the Army is obvious — the FAA was responsible for the level of congestion, and the Army helicopter crashed into the American Eagle plane. However, the angle for suing American is a little more questionable, with the lawsuit alleging that American was being reckless by flying into such congested airspace with so many near misses.
What do you make of this lawsuit, and to what extent do you think the airline is responsible here?
