Family files are against us for a Washington plane crash

The family of one of the 67 victims of a plane accident last month near Washington filed two legal complaints against the federal government on Tuesday, requesting compensation and meaning the start of what should be a long legal struggle and complex.

The complaints, which seem to be the first against the American government during the collision, were tabled by the family of Casey Crafton, an air passenger who died in the accident, according to Robert A. Clifford, the lawyer representing the family. Clifford said he also asked several companies associated with the accident to preserve evidence.

“I do not know who caused this accident, but I know that the passengers have not done so, and families are entitled to answers,” said Mr. Clifford in an interview. “It was avoidable.”

The accident occurred on the night of January 29 when a Black Hawk Army Black helicopter collided with Flight 5342 of American Airlines near Ronald Reagan National Airport, plunging both the plane And the helicopter in the Potomac ice river and killing everyone on the two planes. It was the worst plane crash in the United States in almost a quarter of a century.

The cause has not yet been identified, but the National Transportation Safety Board, who conducts a federal survey, said last week that he examined what seemed to be lacking in instructions sent from an air traffic controller helicopter pilots. Aviation experts claim that the investigation will probably identify several security failures, as is often the case with plane accidents.

The affirmations of Mr. Crafton’s wife, Rachel, and their three sons on Tuesday were filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, which allows individuals to carry the federal government before material damage, bodily injuries or death. One was deposited against the Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees air traffic control, and the other against the army. Everyone requests compensation of $ 250 million, a figure that Mr. Clifford described as a ceiling for the complaint.