Family members hold photos of American Eagle flight 5342 crash victims during a press conference announcing a lawsuit against the airline and federal government for the death of Casey Crafton, following the deadly midair collision involving the American Eagle flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in January, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 24, 2025.
Nathan Howard | Reuters
A fatal collision between an American Airlines regional jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan Washington National Airport in January 2025 was the result of a “multitude of errors” and “systemic issues across multiple organizations,” members of the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday.
The board is holding an all-day hearing and plans to propose dozens of safety recommendations to address failures before the crash. The NTSB disclosed in March that since 2021 there were 15,200 air separation incidents near Reagan between commercial airplanes and helicopters, including 85 close-call events.
In December, the Justice Department said the federal government was liable in the crash. 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 Army helicopter and regional jet “failed to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid each other.”
The maximum altitude for the route the helicopter was taking was 200 feet, but the collision occurred at an altitude of nearly 300 feet.
The Justice Department said a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controller also did not comply with an FAA order and as a result of both agencies conduct the United States was liable for damages.
The crash over the Potomac River near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was the deadliest U.S. air disaster in more than 20 years. The NTSB disclosed last year that in 2022 members of an FAA air traffic working group had urged moving helicopter traffic away from Reagan airport and to establish airborne “hot spots” but it was rejected because the issue was “too political.”
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 Army from helicopter flights around the Pentagon after a close call that forced two civilian planes to abort landings.
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