US government admits role in causing helicopter-plane collision that killed 67 in Washington

"The official response to the first lawsuit filed by one of the victims' families said that the government is liable in the crash partly because the air traffic controller violated visual separation procedures that night. Plus, the 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 the pilots of the jet and the airlines, 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, D.C., officials said. The plane carried 60 passengers and four crew members, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter."

The U.S. government acknowledged that actions by an air traffic controller and an Army helicopter pilot played a role in a January collision between an airliner and a Black Hawk near the nation's capital, resulting in 67 deaths. The official response to a victim family's lawsuit stated the controller violated visual separation procedures and that Army pilots failed to maintain vigilance to see and avoid the airliner, making the government partly liable. The filing also suggested airline pilots and carriers may have contributed, prompting motions to dismiss by American Airlines and PSA Airlines. Recovery efforts pulled at least 28 bodies from the Potomac; the jet carried 60 passengers and four crew, and three soldiers were aboard the helicopter. The government also denied that air traffic controllers, FAA officials, or Army officials were negligent.

Read at Boston.com