(WTNH) — The family of a man who was killed on Jan. 29 when a U.S. military helicopter and an American Airlines flight collided near Washington, D.C., has filed legal claims against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Army.
The claims were filed Tuesday on behalf of the widow and children of Casey Crafton, 40, of Salem, Connecticut. Crafton, who left behind his wife Rachel and three young sons, was a passenger on the American Airlines flight. He was returning from Wichita, Kansas, after a business trip for Guardian Jet, a Connecticut-based aviation consulting firm.
The pre-case claims were filed by Clifford Law Offices of Chicago. Each claim is seeking $250 million.
“They are all so traumatized by this,” Robert A. Clifford, the attorney handling the pending litigation, said of the victim’s loved ones.
The crash took place on the night of Jan. 29, when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 collided near Ronald Reagan National Airport, plunging both the plane and the helicopter into the Potomac River and killing everyone on board both aircraft.
Clifford argues that the crash, which killed 67 people, was preventable.
“The $250 million claims are directed against multiple governmental agencies that may be responsible,” reads a press release issued by Clifford Law Offices on Tuesday. “The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has reported that staffing in the tower of air traffic controllers (ATC) was ‘not normal’ at the time of the nighttime collision and that there were communication lapses between the ATC and the aircraft. The helicopter in the collision was operated by the Army and was manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft.”
The two claims were filed by Clifford Law Offices under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which enables people to file claims for damage or injury caused by a federal employee. (At a news conference last week, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the final moments of the Black Hawk helicopter and passenger plane flights were marked by altitude discrepancies and incomplete air traffic control transmissions.)
Clifford told Nexstar’s WTNH that, for now, he is taking a cautionary approach to filing lawsuits against other entities, such as American Airlines and Sikorsky, while awaiting the release of information to be disclosed in NTSB’s preliminary report. That report is expected within 30 days of the crash.
Clifford has, however, said that he has asked several companies associated with the crash to preserve evidence.
Clifford believes the filings will likely be rejected, or go unanswered. In any case, Clifford said his law firm will develop a damages presentation to report to a judge, and after six months, they could file a federal court lawsuit.
When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the FAA only told Nexstar that the agency could not comment on “pending litigation matters.” U.S. Army spokesperson Maj. Montrell Russell, in a statement to ABC News, also said it would be “inappropriate” for the Army to comment.
“Our primary focus is on supporting the families and ensuring the safety of our Soldiers and the public,” Russell said, in part.
In the meantime, Clifford said he’s eager to find out more about the circumstances surrounding the crash that killed Crafton and 66 others, claiming his law firm is already looking into “what we understand to be — and what I’m calling a willful ignorance of — the problems associated with the congestion [at that airport].”
“Who caused the needless loss of their loved ones? … It could be the Army, it could be FAA, it could be the airline. It could be a combination of those things.”
Source: Fox 8 News Channel
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