KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The families of two Kansas natives who died in the Jan. 29 collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 and a military helicopter in Washington, D.C., have filed a lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming the tragedy could have been prevented.
Kansas City-area attorney Mike Radar, a partner at Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson, Rader Law Firm, is representing the families.
He said the crash that killed all passengers and crew aboard the Wichita-to-D.C. flight resulted from negligence by multiple parties.
"What happened was tragic of epic proportions, but it was completely avoidable," Radar said.
The lawsuit targets American Airlines, its regional carrier PSA, and the federal government.
Radar argues that American Airlines was aware of the dangers associated with the flight path but failed to take appropriate action. Stating the route had "intolerable risk of midair collisions.”
"There's no question that American Airlines knew or should've known that landing on this runway was a danger," Radar said. "There had been countless numbers of near misses between American Airlines aircrafts and other carriers with helicopters that went along this route 4 that hugged the Potomac River."
According to Radar, warning systems were activated in the cockpit as the aircraft and helicopter approached each other 19 secs before impact.
"At that point, they were almost a full mile apart, and there's alarms ringing in the cockpit giving them notice that there was an impending collision," Radar said. "And no avoidance measures were taken until a second before impact."
The lawsuit also points to the Army helicopter, which was found to be flying above the maximum altitude allowed.
The families hope their legal action and the loss of their loved ones' lives save others.
"They want to make sure that their family's lives weren't lost in vain," Radar said. "And that maybe the silver lining to this very, very dark cloud is that aviation safety will improve."
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