Family files claims against U.S. for Wichita-DC plane crash
By Cameron Burnett
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CHICAGO, Illinois (KAKE) — An aviation law firm has filed pre-case claims against the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the U.S. Army involving a passenger killed in the Jan. 29 midair crash of an American Airlines regional jet with a military helicopter, killing all 67 on board.
The Clifford Law Offices says the claims were filed on behalf of the widow and children of Casey Crafton of Connecticut. He died as a result of the collision, leaving behind his wife and three young sons.
Crafton, 40, leaves behind three young sons and his wife of 16 years.
He was killed when American Airlines Flight 5342 from Wichita, Kansas, collided midair with a U.S. Army Black Hawk helicopter that then exploded into a fireball before plunging into the Potomac River, the firm said.
“Casey was an incredible human being,” said Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices and Lead Counsel in the pending litigation. “He was a giver. He was a loving husband and father. He enjoyed coaching his boys on their youth soccer and little league baseball teams. They will be grieving him for the rest of their lives that will never be the same,” Clifford said. “This crash involves complex matters, and the family deserves answers as to what happened to their loved one.”
The firm says that the $250 million claims are “directed against multiple governmental agencies that may be responsible.”
“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,” Clifford Law said in a release Tuesday. “The helicopter in the collision was operated by the Army and was manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. It is being reported that the Trump Administration began notifying hundreds of probationary FAA workers late Friday that they are fired and will be barred from entering their offices effective today.”
The law firm says the government has six months to act upon the claims, and if rejected or not acted upon within that time, plaintiffs have the right in the next two years to file lawsuits in federal district court that would be heard by a judge.
Jury trials are not allowed in civil wrongful death actions against the government.
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