Government admits liability in a deadly crash over Potomac

The U.S. government admitted Wednesday that the actions of an air traffic controller and Army helicopter pilots played a role in causing a collision in January between an airliner and a Black Hawk near the nation’s capital, killing 67 people.

- By JosH FuNK

It was the deadliest plane crash on American soil in more than two decades.

The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims’ families said the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures that night. Plus, the government filing said, the Army helicopter pilots’ “failure to maintain vigilance so as to see and avoid” the airline jet makes the government liable.

But the filing suggested that others, including two airlines and the pilots of the jet, may also have played a role. The lawsuit also blamed American Airlines and its regional partner, PSA Airlines, for roles in the crash, but those airlines have filed motions to dismiss.

And the government denied that any air traffic controllers or officials at the Federal Aviation Administration or Army were negligent.

At least 28 bodies were pulled from the icy waters of the Potomac River after the helicopter collided with the American Airlines regional jet while it was landing at Ronald Reagan National Airport in northern Virginia, just across the river from Washington, officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter.

‘Needless loss’