The U.S. government admitted on Dec. 17 that it was liable in thedeadly collisioninvolving a military helicopter and a passenger jet that killed 67 people near Washington, D.C., earlier this year.
"The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby proximately causing the tragic accident on January 29, 2025," the government said in a court filing.
An American Airlines regional jet was about to land at the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on the evening of Jan. 29 when it collided with an Army Black Hawk Helicopter, which had been conducting a routine training mission. Both aircraft plummeted into the Potomac River,killing 64 peopleon board the plane and three people on the helicopter.
In a 209-page court filing, the government said it is among the defendants liable for the damages from the crash, saying the Army flight crew failed to adequately operate the helicopter and Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers "failed in their two most important priorities, namely to separate aircraft in airspace and issue safety alerts when aircraft are in an unsafe proximity to one another."
The admission was a response to the civil lawsuit, which also blamed American Airlines and other aircraft corporations linked to the crash.
The midair collision was the first fatalcrash of a commercial planein the U.S. since 2009 and raised concerns over the country's aging air traffic control system. In February, the family of one of the victimsfiled $250 million in claims— $50 million for personal injury and $200 million for wrongful death — against the U.S. government.
Though the National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into the incident is ongoing, itspreliminary reportsuggested that thousands of close calls occurred in the same area near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport from 2021 to 2024. The FAA moved to permanently restrict helicopter traffic near the airport's runways.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Zach Wichter and Christopher Cann, USA TODAY; Reuters
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:US government admits negligence in fatal DC plane collision
