American Airlines intends to fight a recently filed lawsuit over the mid-air crash that killed 67 people near Reagan National Airport earlier this year.
The airline denies allegations that a failure to address known safety issues makes it partly responsible for the incident on Jan. 29. The company told ARLnow that it “has been supporting the families and loved ones” of crash victims and underscored its commitment to traveler safety.
“American has a strong track record of putting the safety of our customers and team members above everything else,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “We continue to support the ongoing NTSB investigation and will defend American and PSA Airlines against any legal action claiming the airline caused or contributed to this accident.”
Instead, airline officials pointed to U.S. Army’s responsibility for the UH-60 Sikorsky Black Hawk helicopter that was involved in the crash.
“As the recent NTSB investigative hearing showed, Flight 5342 was on a routine approach to DCA when the Army helicopter — that was above the published helicopter route altitude — collided with it,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this week, the family of Casey Crafton — a 40-year-old man killed in the crash — filed the first lawsuit over the incident, naming American, PSA Airlines, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Army as co-defendants.
The 115-page complaint alleges that the collision resulted from “systematic failures” and a “reckless disregard for safety,” and that the outcome was a “collective failure” among the parties.
“We are taking legal action because the accountability of American Airlines, PSA Airlines, and the Army and FAA is the only way to ensure this never happens again and no other family has to live with the pain we have to endure each day without Casey,” Casey Crafton’s widow, Rachel Crafton, said in a statement.
Doug Lane, whose wife and son were killed in the crash, alleged Wednesday that the airlines ignored long-standing safety concerns and bear a portion of the blame.
“They were in a situation that they shouldn’t have been in,” Lane said of the airlines, “but they have a duty to crunch numbers, look at data and be proactive about preventing things like this from ever happening.”
Bob Clifford, lead counsel representing Crafton in the lawsuit, said that the airlines had a duty to provide safety at the “highest degree possible for the traveling public.” Clifford argued that American Airlines “ran, blatantly, many red lights here by allowing these planes to operate in the navigable space at DCA, knowing that there was massive congestion.”
PSA Airlines, which operates regional flights under the American Eagle name, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The U.S. Army did respond an ARLnow inquiry, but only to say it was “inappropriate” to comment on the litigation.
