WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- One year after a midair collision over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) killed 67 people, families of the victims are intensifying their push for accountability in federal court and demanding immediate safety reforms to prevent another catastrophe in the nation's most sensitive airspace.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), a Pacific Southwest Airlines (PSA) CRJ700 operating as American Airlines Flight 5342 was on final approach to Runway 33 at Reagan National (DCA) on the night of January 29, 2025, when it entered the same airspace as a U.S. Army UH-60L Black Hawk helicopter (PAT25). The aircraft collided and crashed into the Potomac River, killing all 67 people aboard.
"The NTSB has determined that the corridor where the midair collision occurred positions commercial aircraft and Army helicopters in direct conflict, leaving them with only about 75 feet of vertical separation," said Timothy A. Loranger, attorney and senior partner at Wisner Baum. "This is clearly not sufficient, and, in the NTSB's words, created an 'intolerable risk to aviation safety.'"
The consolidated wrongful-death litigation is moving forward on behalf of many of the families in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia under lead case Crafton v. American Airlines, Inc., et al., No. 1:25-cv-03382 (D.D.C.), with additional families' cases expected to join.
"This was a preventable tragedy; the official records are revealing some hard truths that will be addressed in the litigation," said Loranger. Loranger, a licensed pilot and former Marine Corps aircraft mechanic, has practiced aviation law with Wisner Baum for more than 14 years.
Addressing an Avoidable Event
Recent reporting has underscored the case's central allegation: the crash was a foreseeable result of layered failures in procedures, training, communications, and airspace management around DCA. Families point to the federal government's court filing acknowledging partial responsibility as a turning point that reinforces the urgency of reform.
The Master Complaint alleges that the January 29, 2025, collision resulted from converging breakdowns, including:
- Operational and training failures tied to decision-making during approach and runway changes.
- Inadequate situational awareness and response to collision-avoidance alerts in the moments before impact.
- Unsafe proximity between helicopter routes and commercial approach paths, including risks associated with Route 4 operations near DCA.
Separately, the NTSB issued urgent recommendations tied to DCA operations, including a call to prohibit helicopter operations on a key segment of Helicopter Route 4 when specified runway configurations are in use—an extraordinary step that underscores how known hazards must be addressed, not managed with "business as usual."
The Complaint alleges that the U.S. Army and its 12th Aviation Battalion caused or contributed to the collision by permitting PAT25 to conduct a nighttime night vision goggle (NVG) training mission in DCA's congested airspace without actively transmitting its position, then requesting and accepting visual separation and failing to see and avoid while flying off the published helicopter route and above the mandatory 200-foot mean sea level (MSL) restriction. It further alleges broader Army negligence in risk management and standard operating procedures, training, addressing known barometric altimeter error/variance issues for 200-foot operations, and failing to analyze and respond to repeated minimum-separation events near DCA.
"What the evidence reveals is a preventable chain of Army failures, from approving a night NVG training flight in crowded DCA airspace without broadcasting its position, to requesting visual separation and then flying off route and above the 200-foot limit," Loranger explained. "The families, including the families of those who were on board the helicopter, deserve answers, accountability, and concrete safety reforms."
Near-misses Show Deadly Pattern
The crash's death toll makes it one of the deadliest U.S. aviation disasters in decades, which is why the families' claims are moving ahead as coordinated mass-casualty litigation, enabling the common issues of liability, causation, and systemic failures to be litigated efficiently, while preserving each family's individual damages.
The case alleges that near-miss data and internal/publicly available risk indicators should have triggered earlier corrective action before lives were lost. The families seek full economic and non-economic damages under applicable law and, where available, punitive damages against corporate defendants for alleged reckless disregard of known risks.
"The case is also about forcing hard fixes," Loranger said. "Setting stricter DCA airspace rules, modernizing deconfliction between military and civilian operations, and ensuring adequate safety margins to ensure a collision like this does not happen again."
A recent congressional investigation into the DCA collision faulted critical breakdowns in military airspace procedures and coordination, adding to scrutiny already focused on how complex operations near the capital are overseen.
"As we mark the one-year anniversary of this tragedy, the families are still living with the devastation of 67 lives lost, and they are determined to make sure this never happens again," said Loranger. "This litigation is about accountability for what failed, and it's about securing permanent safety changes that can protect every passenger and crew member flying into the nation's capital."
Reference:
- Plaintiffs. (2025, October 28). Master complaint (In re: Mid-Air Collision in Washington, D.C., Jan. 29, 2025, Lead Case No. 1:25-cv-03382-ACR) [Complaint]. United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
