The family of a father-of-three killed in the Washington DC plane crash last month has filed a $250 million pre-case claim against the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Army.
The claim was lodged yesterday by Clifford Law Offices, an aviation law firm, on behalf of the family of Casey Crafton.
A pre-case claim is a formal letter sent before starting court proceedings in an attempt to resolve a dispute without going to court.
Crafton, 40, was one of the 67 killed on January 29 when American Airlines Flight 5342 collided midair with a military helicopter as it made its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and plunged into the Potomac River.
Clifford Law Offices said the National Transportation Safety Board had reported that staffing in the air traffic control tower was ‘not normal’ at the time of the plane crash.
The federal government has six months to act on the claims, and if rejected or not acted upon, the Crafton family will have the right to file lawsuits, the firm said.
‘Casey was an incredible human being. He was a giver, a loving husband, and father,’ attorney Bob Clifford with the Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices said in a statement.
‘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.
The family of a father killed in the Washington DC plane crash last month has filed $250 million pre-case claims against the FAA and the Army
Rescue teams search the wreckage of a commercial airplane that collided with a military helicopter, in Washington DC on January 29
Casey Crafton pictured with his wife of 16 years, Rachel. Together, they share three sons
‘This crash involves complex matters, and the family deserves answers as to what happened to their loved one,’ he added.
Tuesday’s filing marked the first legal action against the FAA and the Army over the fatal crash.
Crafton, of Salem, Connecticut, had been married to his wife Rachel for 16 years and together they had three sons.
A GoFundMe for the family has been set up to help cover funeral costs as well as ‘money for life without their husband and father’.
So far, $82,000 of the $90,000 target has been raised.
Working as a technical support manager at an aviation consulting firm, Crafton was aboard the American Airlines flight on his way home from a business trip in Kansas. He was meant to have a layover in Washington.
Questions have been raised about what caused the collision last month.
That night, an air traffic controller was left to handle both helicopter traffic and manage planes – which should have been a divided duty – according to the New York Times.
Those tasks are usually handled between two people from 10am until 9:30pm, according to the report.
After 9:30pm the duties are typically combined and left to one person as the airport sees less traffic later in the night.
A supervisor reportedly decided to combine those duties before the scheduled cutoff time however, and allowed one air traffic controller to leave work early.
Crafton, from Salem, Connecticut, was on his way home from a business trip in Kansas
A GoFundMe has been set up to support Crafton’s wife and children
A deadly collision between a helicopter and an American Airlines regional jet killed 67 people last month (pictured: the wreckage being removed from the Potomac River)
Questions had been raised about how the collision – which killed all 67 people involved – occurred, given pilots follow strict protocol about the altitudes they can safely reach
Pieces of American Airlines flight 5342 recovered from the Potomac River are brought to shore during recovery efforts on February 5
The FAA report said that staffing configuration ‘was not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic’.
It remains unclear why the supervisor allowed the worker to clock off early on that night, just before the midair collision.
Reagan National has been understaffed for many years, with just 19 fully certified controllers as of September 2023 – well below the target of 30 – according to the most recent Air Traffic Controller Workforce Plan submitted to Congress.
The situation appeared to have improved since then, as a source told CNN the Reagan National control tower was 85 percent staffed with 24 of 28 positions filled.
Chronic understaffing at air traffic control towers is nothing new, with well-known causes including high turnover and budget cuts.
Pictured: Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and its control tower
All 67 people – including children – were killed in the horrific disaster in DC
In order to fill the gaps, controllers are frequently asked to work 10-hour days, six days a week.
The two aircraft had collided in a huge fireball that was visible on dashcams of cars driving on highways that snake around the airport, before plunging into the river.
The following morning officials confirmed all 67 on both the plane and helicopter had perished, with their rescue mission then becoming a recovery operation.
Investigators made a break through later that night, after they had pulled 40 bodies to shore, when they found two black boxes from the American Airlines flight.
A flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder were pulled from the river by salvage teams.
