The filings over the collision of an American Airlines plane and an Army helicopter last month appear to be the first such claim and signal the start of a long legal fight.
The family of one of the 67 victims of a plane crash last month near Washington filed two legal claims against the federal government on Tuesday, seeking compensation and signifying the beginning of what is expected to be a long and complex legal fight.
The claims, which appear to be the first against the U.S. government over the collision, were filed by the family of Casey Crafton, an airline passenger who died in the crash, according to Robert A. Clifford, the lawyer representing them. Mr. Clifford said he had also asked several companies associated with the crash to preserve evidence.
“I don’t know who caused this crash, but I know the passengers sure didn’t, and the families are entitled to answers,” Mr. Clifford said in an interview. “This was preventable.”
The crash occurred on the night of Jan. 29, when a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter collided with American Airlines Flight 5342 near Ronald Reagan National Airport, plunging both the plane and the helicopter into the icy Potomac River and killing everyone on both aircraft. It was the worst plane crash in the United States in nearly a quarter-century.
The cause has not yet been identified, but the National Transportation Safety Board, which is leading a federal investigation, said last week that it was looking into what appeared to be missed instructions sent from an air traffic controller to the helicopter pilots. Aviation experts say the investigation will probably identify multiple safety failures, as is often the case with plane crashes.
The claims by Mr. Crafton’s wife, Rachel, and their three children on Tuesday were filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which enables individuals to take the federal government to court for property damage, personal injury or death. One was filed against the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, and the other against the Army. Each seeks $250 million in compensation, a figure which Mr. Clifford described as a ceiling for the claim.