The U.S. government has conceded failures on the part of pilots and an air traffic controller at Reagan National Airport that led to the deadly mid-air crash over the Potomac River in January that took the lives of 67 people, according to a new court filing. 

The admission by attorneys with the Justice Department was filed on Wednesday in response to a civil suit brought by the family of a passenger killed on the Jan. 29 American Airlines flight from Wichita. 

The regional jet and Black Hawk helicopter both crashed into the icy Potomac River after colliding in midair, launching an overnight search and rescue mission, with no survivors found.

Sixty-four people were on the plane and three Army soldiers were aboard the helicopter, which was on a training flight at the time, officials said.

“As detailed herein, the Defendants’ collective failures caused the mid-air collision that resulted in the senseless and tragic deaths of 67 individuals,” the filing says. “Prior to, and on the night of the mid-air collision, the Defendants knew, or should have known, that AE5342 was transiting one of the busiest airspaces in the United States, and they knew, or should have known, that the airport approaches, and the airspace in the vicinity of Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (“DCA”), presented certain safety risks, specifically including the possibility of a mid-air collision.”

The filing says that among the factors known to the military was that there had been “a substantial number of ‘near miss’ events in and around DCA, which were required to be analyzed to ensure that a mid-air collision did not occur and required Defendants to exercise vigilance when operating and/or controlling aircraft in the vicinity of DCA.” 

“Because of Defendants’ collective failure to analyze the data and information at their disposal, and due to their failure to operate and/or control aircraft with the highest degree of safety, this mid-air collision was, tragically, an accident waiting to happen,” the government said. 

“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached,” the government added. 

An attorney for one of the plaintiffs in the case, Rachel Crafton, said in a statement, “These families remain deeply saddened and anchored in the grief caused by this tragic loss of life.”

“We continue to investigate this matter to ensure all parties at fault are held accountable, and we await additional findings from the NTSB in an anticipated January 26 hearing on this matter in Washington, D.C,” attorney Robert A. Clifford said.

The NTSB is expected to release its final report with the probable cause and its recommendations by the anniversary of the crash on Jan. 29, 2026.