Our firm is currently investigating lawsuits for the victims of this crash. Contact us for a free and confidential consultation at 202-742-1500.
Attorneys at Patrick Malone & Associates have extensive experience suing the federal government, including the Army. We know the local claims representatives of the Army and have prosecuted several successful claims against the Army. Our law firm stands ready to help any families of the victims in the claims process against the United States government for compensation for the deaths. We will do this without any out-of-pocket expenses for the families.
On January 29, 2025, a passenger jet – American Airlines Flight 5342 – traveling from Wichita, Kansas to Reagan National collided midair with a Black Hawk helicopter operated by the United States Army. The passenger plane was carrying 60 passengers and four crew members on a flight. There were no survivors. The crash happened three days after the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships – the most prestigious annual event on the American figure skating calendar, which was held in Wichita. Several competitive figure skaters and their companions, including retired champions, athletic coaches and family members were on board. Among the casualties were Spencer Lane and his mother Christine Lane. Spencer was a figure skater and member of the Skating Club of Boston in Norwood, Massachusetts. Jinna Han, another member of the Skating Club of Boston, and her mother, Jin Han, were also on board. In addition, two renowned Russian former figure skaters, Evgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov, who served as coaches for the Skating Club of Boston, also perished in the crash.
According to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, “a mistake was made” by the military personnel operating the Black Hawk. Investigators at the New York Times reported that two minutes before the collision, an air traffic controller tracking both the Black Hawk and Flight 5342 informed the Black Hawk crew that Flight 5342 was south of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and cleared to land at Reagan. Flight 5342’s path was near an approved corridor for helicopters called Route 4, which was where the Black Hawk intended to go. Twenty seconds before impact, air traffic control asked the Black Hawk if it had Flight 5342 in sight. The Black Hawk’s pilots confirmed they had Flight 5342 in sight. Moments later the helicopter and plane collided. Some aviation experts have hypothesized that the Black Hawk mistook another commercial plane for Flight 5342. In fact, the New York Times found that there were a number of aircraft were in the area when the Black Hawk communicated with air traffic control, several landing and taking off.
In addition, staffing at the air traffic control tower at Reagan National was “not normal” when the crash occurred. Less than 30 seconds before the collision, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter crew whether they had Flight 5342 in sight. The crew confirmed visual contact and requested “visual separation” from the airliner, meaning they would visually acquire and maintain separation from the aircraft, which the controller approved. Moments later, the controller instructed the helicopter to pass behind Flight 5342. The two aircraft collided at an altitude of less than 300 feet.
When government employees make such a mistake, the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”) is a federal law that allows any individual to bring an administrative claim – and later a lawsuit, if the administrative claim is denied or not settled successfully – against the United States government for wrongful death or personal injuries. Ordinarily the federal government is immune to lawsuits under the legal doctrine of “sovereign immunity.” The FTCA is an exception to sovereign immunity. The government can be sued when its employees – such as the Army personnel in this case – are performing a job that a private employee generally performs in the same way – such as flying a helicopter.
To file an FTCA claim, a claimant must first file a Standard Form 95 to present their claims against the United States under the FTCA for the property damage, personal injury, or death allegedly caused by a federal employee’s negligence or wrongful act or omission occurring within the scope of the employee’s Federal employment. The Form 95 must state a claim for money damages in a sum certain amount claimed for injury to or loss of property, personal injury, or death. If a sum certain is not specified on the Form 95 or in accompanying information, a submission cannot be considered to be a valid claim. Importantly, a claimant may not receive more than the amount claimed on Form 95, so most lawyers advise FTCA claimants that the amount claimed should be a generous estimate – you can always recover less, but not more. The claimant must file the completed Form 95 with the appropriate agency within two years of becoming aware of the injury – here, the date of the crash.
Our attorneys are currently investigating these claims. Contact us if we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions for Families of American Eagle flight 5342
Families grieving the loss of a parent, child or another loved one in the mid-air collision over the Potomac River on January 29, 2025 have questions about their legal rights and the process of making claims and filing lawsuits for these deaths. Here are answers that our law firm has put together.
Q. I am uncomfortable claiming money compensation for the death of a family member. No amount of money can replace them. What should I do?
A. Many families in all types of wrongful death lawsuits feel the same. It’s important that these feelings be acknowledged and addressed. You don’t have any obligation to make a claim for compensation. And if you do make a claim, any money you receive can be used by you to set up a suitable memorial so that the name of your loved one will be remembered in a positive way.
Memorials that our clients have pursued in past cases include:
-A scholarship endowed in the name of the deceased person, to be used either at a specific school or a specific type of athletic or academic program.
-Awards, prizes or other grants to help future students and to perpetuate the name of the lost loved one.
—–In this case, figure skating provides a wealth of opportunities for a suitable memorial that helps future skaters.
-Requiring the at-fault party responsible for the deaths to acknowledge fault and to set up a program for training or other changes to help prevent this from happening to someone else.
Q. What does that mean, “compensation”?
A. Compensation is a special word that means “to balance out.” No one can turn back the clock on a death or devastating injury. Compensation doesn’t replace the loved one. It is simply a way to use the civil justice legal system to acknowledge and fairly balance out the loss through money damages.
Q. Why not send someone to jail if they did something wrong?
A. That’s the criminal justice system, which is there to punish people who have deliberately hurt others. In this case, we’re concerned with unintentional harm. That’s what the civil justice system is for, and that means money damages to balance out in some way the harm that was caused.
Q. How long do I have to decide about making a claim?
A. You have plenty of time. Claims against the United States government must be started by filing an official claim form within two years of the date of injury. Claims against non-governmental actors – airlines, manufacturers, and the like – must be filed in court within two years if it’s a wrongful death lawsuit in the District of Columbia or Virginia. The deadline is three years for a case brought in Maryland courts against a non-governmental defendant.
Q. Who is eligible to make a claim?
A. Claims are typically limited to close family members who lived with the deceased person or were otherwise closely involved with their life. It depends on the individual circumstances.
Q. Can more than one person make a claim for a single individual killed?
A. Potentially yes. It depends on the circumstances. In both the District of Columbia and Virginia courts, the claim is brought in the name of the “personal representative” or “administrator” of the deceased person’s estate. That is a person appointed by the local court to act on behalf of the deceased person and all family members.
Q. What types of losses are eligible for compensation?
A. It varies depending on the state where the injury or death happened. Because this event happened over the Potomac River, which is within the boundary of the District of Columbia, the wrongful death law of the District of Columbia is likely to control in most claims. D.C. law provides for the following types of damages in a wrongful death claim:
- Loss of the financial support that the deceased person likely would have given to their family members over their lifetime (typically as calculated by economists and vocational counselors).
- Loss of the deceased person’s lifetime savings that would have been left over after their natural life span and after spending money on themselves and their family members.
- Loss of guidance that the deceased person would have provided for their surviving loved ones.
- Any conscious “pain and suffering” experienced by the deceased person before they died. In this case that would be for the brief interval from impact to death.
Q. Are there losses that are not eligible for compensation under D.C. law?
A. Yes. D.C. law does not allow compensation for the survivors’ grief, loss of companionship and similar types of damages that would be allowed in other states like Virginia and Maryland. However, as noted above, the District of Columbia does allow for loss of guidance as an item of damages.
Q. It looks like the people at fault for this accident were the crew of the U.S. Army helicopter and possibly also the air traffic controllers in the tower at Reagan National Airport. How does this affect any claims?
A. Both the copter crew and the air traffic controllers were employees of the U.S. government. When negligence of a U.S. government employee causes death or injury, the United States government is responsible for all the losses and damages in court, just as if it were a private corporation. This is called the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). There are some special rules for FTCA claims against the federal government:
- The claim is started with filing of a form called the “Standard Form 95” or SF-95 with the responsible federal agency. In this case, that would by the U.S. Army for the helicopter crew and the Federal Aviation Administration for the controllers.
- The claim form has a box for the claimant to say how much money they are claiming. This has to be filled out, and the amount claimed sets a ceiling on what can eventually be recovered.
- As mentioned above, this SF-95 claim form has to be filed with the correct federal agency within two years of the death or injury.
- The government has a minimum of six months from the date of filing the claim with the agency to make an offer of settlement. If the six months expires with no offer or one that the claimant believes is too low, the claimant can file a lawsuit in federal court.
- A federal judge would then conduct a bench trial and would decide the amount of damages for the claimant.
Q. How do I get more information about the process under the Federal Tort Claims Act?
A. Our website has plenty of information here: https://www.patrickmalonelaw.com/focus-areas/medical-malpractice/military-malpractice/the-federal-tort-claims-act/ Note that our focus on this web page is on medical malpractice claims against government hospitals (a much more common event than air crashes), but we have a lot of general information about the FTCA process here also.
Q. If I hire a lawyer for my losses from this air crash, will I have to pay money to the lawyer?
A. No out-of-pocket money will be owed by any of our clients. We represent clients on a “contingency fee” which means we collect a percentage of the compensation won at the end of the case, plus any expenses we’ve incurred get reimbursed. In FTCA claims, the attorney fee is limited by federal law to 20 percent of the compensation obtained before any lawsuit, and 25 percent if a lawsuit has to be filed. (If private corporations or actors are sued, a higher percentage may apply.)
Q. Can I speak to a lawyer if I want more information?
A. Yes. All the attorneys at Patrick Malone & Associates are available to answer your questions. Call us at 202-742-1500 or send an email to info@patrickmalonelaw.com . There is no charge or obligation for this consultation.