&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US govt admits laxity in helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 in Washington")
In an official response to the lawsuit filed by relatives of the victims, the US government admitted on Wednesday it was partially at fault and that the Federal Aviation Administration and the army played a role in causing the collision in January between an airliner and a Black Hawk helicopter near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people in the deadliest crash on American soil in over two decades.
The official response said the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated procedures about when to rely on pilots to maintain visual separation that night. Besides, the army helicopter pilots’ “failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet also makes the government liable.
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But the filing suggested that others, including the pilots of the jet and the airlines, may also have played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for roles in the crash, but both carriers have filed motions seeking dismissal.
About 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter apparently flew into the path of the American Airlines regional jet while it was landing at the Ronald Reagan airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington, DC. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, while three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.
Robert Clifford, an attorney for the family of victim Casey Crafton, said the government admitted “the Army’s responsibility for the needless loss of life” and the FAA’s failure to follow air traffic control procedures.
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will release its report on the cause of the crash early next year, but investigators have highlighted the factors that contributed.
Investigators have said the helicopter pilots might not have realized how high they were because the barometric altimeter they were relying on was reading 80 to 100 feet (24 to 30 metres) lower than the altitude registered by the flight data recorder.
The crash victims included a group of elite young figure skaters, their parents and coaches who had just attended a competition in Wichita, Kansas.
The National Transportation Safety Board hearing is scheduled for January 26.
