The family of one of the 67 victims of a plane crash last month near Washington submitted two legal claims against the federal government on Tuesday to request compensation and the beginning of what is expected to be a long and complex legal fight.
The claims, which seem to be the first to be against the US government about the collision, were submitted by the Van Casey Crafton family, a passenger of airlines who died in the crash, according to Robert A. Clifford, the lawyer who represents the family. Mr. Clifford said that he had also asked several companies that were associated with the crash to retain evidence.
“I don't know who caused this crash, but I know the passengers certainly don't have that, and the families have the right to answers,” said Mr. Clifford in an interview. “This was to prevent.”
The crash took place in the night of January 29 when a Army Black Hawk -Helikopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan National Airport, both the plane and the helicopter in the icy Potomac -River and everyone in it Both aircraft killed. It was the worst plane crash in the United States in almost a quarter of a century.
The cause has not yet been identified, but the National Transportation Safety Board, which leads a federal investigation, said last week that it was investigated for some laymen instructions that seemed to be sent from an air traffic controller to the helicopter pilots. Luchtvaarttexperts say that the study will probably identify multiple safety errors, as is often the case with aircraft accidents.
The claims of the wife of Mr Crafton, Rachel, and their three sons were submitted on Tuesday under the Federal Dort Claims Act, so that individuals can bring the federal government to court due to property damage, personal injury or death. One was submitted against the Federal Aviation Administration, which supervises air traffic control and the other against the army. Each is looking for $ 250 million in compensation, a figure that Mr. Clifford described as a ceiling for the claim.
The claims are submitted to the FAA and the army. If they reject the claims or do not respond within six months, the family can submit a lawsuit to the federal court.
Mr. Clifford said he expected to postpone a decision about suing companies connected to the crash until the NTSB has issued a provisional report. The agency has said that it is planning to do this in the coming weeks, but that it will not identify a likely cause of the crash until it publishes a final report over a year or two.
Mr. Clifford said that he weighed legal action on behalf of the families of other victims.
Mr. Clifford, who also represents families of the crash of a Boeing 737 MAX 2019 in Ethiopia, said he had asked several companies to retain evidence with regard to last month's delivery. This includes American Airlines and its subsidiary, PSA Airlines, which operated the plane, as well as Sikorsky aircraft, the subsidiary of Lockheed Martin who makes the Black Hawk -Helicopter and Collins Aerospace, who makes components for military and commercial aircraft.
The airlines were ultimately responsible for the safety of the passengers, Mr Clifford said, in particular considering mounting the safety problems at Reagan National, including congestion and earlier close calls.
“We think that the airlines were aware of all these almost missers, that they knew that there were these potential dangers, and under the law as the common carrier, American and PSA had the highest duty of care,” he said.
In the night of the crash, the helicopter team had asked an air traffic controller to give permission to use visual separation by plane, so that pilots are maintaining distance from a nearby aircraft by keeping it in their facial line. The request was granted, but there are still questions about whether the controller had left too much room for confusion in communication with the helicopter team or whether that crew was completely focused on the wrong plane.
During a press conference last week, the NTSB shared two authorities in which it turned out that the helicopter team may not have received completely reports from the air traffic controller. The episode also sheds light on concern that the air traffic control system is increasingly taxed in recent years, partly due to chronic understaffing.
Mr. Crafton, 40, lived in Connecticut and studied aviation management at Bob Jones University, where he met his wife. In the night of the crash he returned from a business trip to Wichita, Kan.
