The US government has admitted its part in failures that led to a deadly crash between a Black Hawk helicopter and American Eagle jet over the Potomac River in Washington DC.
According to NBC News, court documents filed on December 17, 2025, saw the government accept its role in the death of 67 people that were killed in a collision as the American Eagle jet approached Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident,” said the court filing.
The admittance came in response to the first lawsuit filed by the family of one of the victims of the January 2025 crash.
According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit said the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures, and Black Hawk pilots failed to “maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the commercial jet.
American Airlines, which owns American Eagle, and PSA Airlines, which was operating the American Eagle flight on the night of the crash, were also said to have played a role in the crash.
The Associated Press also reported that the government denied any air traffic controllers, or FAA officials or Army representatives were negligent.
Attorney Robert A. Clifford, who is representing the family of the victim, said: “The United States admits the Army’s responsibility for the needless loss of life in the crash of an Army helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport, as well as the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedure.”
The FAA has previously said there were 85 recorded incidents between October 2021 and December 2024 in which planes and helicopters came dangerously close to one another while operating in the same Washington airspace.
Other factors believed to have contributed to the crash include the Black Hawk flying at a higher altitude than permitted and the use of visual separation.
The two aircraft collided over the Potomac River in Washington on January 29, 2025, as the PSA Airlines-operated flight, with 64 people onboard, was just half a mile away from landing at Reagan Washington National Airport.
Within the Black Hawk helicopter were three military crew members conducting a ‘check ride’, an exam that a pilot must pass to undertake certain flight duties.
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