Three weeks after the deadly midair collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter near Reagan National Airport, the family of one of the 67 people killed has filed paperwork that could lead to lawsuits against the federal government, the airline and the helicopter manufacturer.
Claims were filed Tuesday against the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Army on behalf of the widow and three children of 40-year-old Casey Crafton of Connecticut, who was killed in the crash.
With the pre-case filings, the government has six months to act upon the claims, after which, the family has two years to file lawsuits in federal court that would be heard by a judge, according to attorney Robert Clifford.
In addition, letters were sent American Airlines, its regional carrier PSA, as well as Sikorsky Aircraft and Collins Aerospace to preserve all evidence in the midair crash of the two aircraft on Jan. 29.
“The families are filing this to achieve their goal of taking the first step towards what the whole world knows will be eventual litigation against the FAA for its air traffic control and the U.S. Army relative to the operations of the helicopter,” Clifford said in an interview with the Associated Press on Wednesday.
Clifford said the specifics of a $250 million wrongful death lawsuit will rely heavily upon the findings of the National Transportation Safety Board’s ongoing investigation into the collision and crash.
The attorney said his office is also investigating potential claims of willful neglect by the airlines, given the “congestion of commercial aircraft and helicopters that went ignored in the air space near Reagan National Airport.”
“It’s our nation’s capital, the military is everywhere, the Pentagon is right there, so it’s natural there would be military aircraft in and around that airport,” Clifford said in a videotaped statement.
“It’s documented there’s a congestion problem that’s well-known to the aviation industry, and there’s going to be legitimate questions asked about how preventable this crash was, in light of that,” he said.
According to the family attorney, Crafton, who lived in Salem, Connecticut, was returning from a business trip to Wichita, Kansas, when his connecting flight was struck and he was killed.
“They will be grieving him for the rest of their lives, that will never be the same,” Clifford said. “The family deserves answers as to what happened to their loved one.”
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