The U.S. government has admitted in a federal court filing that it is liable for damages from a deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet near Washington earlier this year, one of the deadliest accidents in decades. U.S. admits liability in helicopter-jet collision over Potomac River (Bloomberg) — The U.S. government has admitted in a federal court filing that it is liable for damages stemming from a deadly collision between an Army helicopter and an American Airlines Group Inc. regional jet near Washington earlier this year, one of the deadliest accidents. “The United States admits it owed a duty of care to plaintiffs, which it breached, thereby causing the tragic crash on Jan. 29 that killed 67 people,” Justice Department lawyers wrote in a court document Wednesday in one of about two dozen lawsuits filed over the crash. The US CRJ-700 jet and the Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter collided when the Ronald Reagan plane approached Washington National Airport, with both planes carrying 60 passengers and four crew members on Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas. Family members of the victims sued the government and one of its subsidiaries, the Justice Department’s Robert Clifford represented one of the passengers killed in the crash, said in a statement that the U.S. military acknowledged its “responsibility for the unnecessary loss of life,” as well as the Federal Aviation Administration’s “failure to follow air traffic control procedure.” However, the government was only “one of several causes,” Clifford said, noting that American and PSA had tried to dismiss the complaints. American declined to comment on its previous filing motion to dismiss the case against him. In that motion, the airline said it was “sympathetic to the plaintiffs’ desire to seek redress for this tragedy,” but “plaintiffs’ proper remedy is not against America. It’s against the U.S. government.” The FAA referred questions to the Justice Department. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment after normal business hours. The collision was followed by several other aviation accidents, including crashes and near misses, that led to widespread concern among the flying public. Since then, the Federal Aviation Administration has tightened security measures at the busy Reagan Airport and restricted non-essential helicopter operations. The case is Crafton vs. American Airlines, 25-cv-03382, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington) More stories like this one are available on bloomberg.com ©2025 Bloomberg LP