On January 29, 2025 at 5:38 p.m. American Airlines Flight 5342, a Bombardier CRJ700, departed Wichita, Kansas, bound for Washington National airport.
At 8:43 p.m. Eastern they contacted Reagan National Airport air traffic control while on visual approach to Runway 1. The controller requests the crew switch to Runway 33, which they accept and are cleared to land.
Three minutes later, air traffic control alerts a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter (PAT25) to the presence of the CRJ700 jet circling for Runway 33. The helicopter crew acknowledges visual contact and requests visual separation, which is approved by ATC.
One minute after that, the controller asks the helicopter crew if they still have the CRJ in sight, with a radar conflict alert audible in the background. The airliner receives a “traffic, traffic” warning from its TCAS system.
Less than a minute later, air traffic control instructs the helicopter to pass behind flight 5342. The helicopter crew again acknowledges visual separation. Seconds later the CRJ700 pitches up in an evasive maneuver, and both aircraft collide – above the 200-foot maximum altitude for helicopters on that route. The helicopter explodes, and both aircraft crash into the river. The government admits liability, but not sole liability.
American Airlines is being sued over this in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Trial is set for April 2027. You always feel badly for the family of a victim in something like this, but American Airilines should not be a defendent in this case.
The plaintiff’s theory is that:
- the airspace was known to be high-risk and American Airlines failed to mitigate this (the disaster happened)
- American failed in its procedures for handling the airport’s mixed jet and helicopter requirement, including for evaluating requests to land on Runway 33 given helicopter routes near the approach (they should have been arguing with air traffic control to avoid this).
- American “manipulated and abused” the arrival rate system to push more arrivals per hour, shrinking safety margins. (There is zero evidence caused the accident, even if a failing air traffic control system has trouble handling volumes.)
- Pilots failed to look for intruding traffic and take corrective action.
American argued this week they complied with the federal government’s safety regime, and did not breach its obligations. The proper recourse is against the government (compliance with safety procedures trumps state law negligence theories and greater duties).
Ultimately the issue here is airspace design, helicopter routes and helicopter pilot failures, military training and air traffic control clearances which are all on the federal government. The government admits it owed a duty that it breached and this caused the accident.
But American Airlines is actually the bigger pocket to go after, because under the Federal Tort Claims Act, plaintiffs don’t get a jury trial against the government. The case gets tried by a judge, which means less outcome variance and potential for a huge verdict. And damages are compensatory only (no punitive damages). So plaintiffs argue that while the government acknowledges liability, its conduct is one of several causes.
I’m often critical of American Airlines, but their response to this tragedy has been both exemplary and extraordinary.
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