Family Members of DC Crash Victims React to March 27 Testimony in Senate Aviation Subcommittee from Top Aviation Officials

Family members of victims of the January 29 midair collision of a commercial jet and military helicopter expressed further devastation and sorrow after the March 27, 2025, US Senate aviation subcommittee hearing that discussed the National Transportation Safety Board’s (NTSB) Preliminary Report.

Dailey Crafton, brother of Casey Crafton who was among the 67 people killed onboard the American Airlines jet that collided into an Army helicopter as the plane approached Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington, DC, attended the hearing and told the press he is hoping for greater aviation safety to come from these hearings. He also hopes that his talking to the press leads to his brother being remembered as a “great person,” a wonderful husband, and a kind father. “He was such a giving person and he left everyone in his life a better person for having known him,” Dailey Crafton said. “He will be missed by so many, being taken too early from all of us. There is a gaping void in all of our lives that can’t be filled.”

“I was surprised at the lapses of safety protocols that led to this crash,” he said in reaction to today’s hearing. “Specifically, even since the crash, certain safety measures that could have been simply implemented still have not been. Accountability is still not being taken by parties who should be held responsible.”

Robert A. Clifford, founder and senior partner of Clifford Law Offices, a nationally leading aviation firm in Chicago who last month filed pre-case claims of $250 million against the federal government and letters of preservation against potential defendants on behalf of Casey Crafton’s wife and children and the other victims’ families he represents said, “This crash simply should not have happened. It is a tragedy the suffering that these families have to go through because no one in the proper authoritative positions bothered to do anything about what was happening at DCA until it was too late. Although these family members have lost their loved ones, I am heartened by the Senate members making aviation a top priority and making a commitment to safety.”

Clifford said he is ready to immediately file complaints against the FAA and the Army when the six-month mandatory waiting period is over.

Acting Administrator of the FAA Chris Rocheleau told the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Aviation, Space and Innovation Thursday said that the FAA intends to hire 2,000 more air traffic controllers this year. He said safety is the number one priority of the FAA in a fiery hearing before the Senate aviation subcommittee.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy testified that the NTSB’s preliminary investigation found more than 15,000 near misses at DCA over the last three years, information that was available to the FAA and the airlines prior to the crash. “The NTSB knows tragedy too well.” She said she hopes to have a final report on this crash in a year.

Clifford said it is confounding that airlines who owe the highest duty of care to its passengers ignored this critical information knowing that a fatal crash at DCA was a tragedy waiting to happen. “It took the lives of 67 innocent people for the airlines and everyone else to wake up to the statistics that airlines need to put safety first. Both the acting administrator of the FAA, Chris Rocheleau, as well as Brigadier General Braman, the US Army Aviation Director, were less than forthcoming to the American public and did their best to obfuscate the information provided to the committee. They failed to accept responsibility and accountability for this needless tragedy, and the thousands of other adverse experiences that could have led to additional disasters,” Clifford said.

Brigadier General Matthew Braman, Director, Army Aviation, United States Army, who also testified, said that the helicopter pilots were all qualified to conduct their mission that night. He says he will see it through to get answers, but would not commit to getting the senators a critical memo on its data.

Tracy Brammeier, partner at Clifford Law Offices who works on aviation crashes at the firm on behalf of family members who lost loved ones in this crash and who attended today’s hearing in the nation’s capital, said, “The failure to share details about near midair collisions, or to perform trend analysis on the history of such incidents, or otherwise take action to address the high number of occurrences, is completely unacceptable. All entities who failed to take action must be held accountable to the victims’ families and to the flying public.”

In a 20-page preliminary report released March 11, the NTSB made several recommendations, including the continued barring of helicopter traffic over a four-mile stretch over the Potomac River that took effect shortly after the deadly Jan. 29 crash when American Airlines PSA Flight 5342 and a U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter collided at night.

Clifford Law Offices sent preservation letters to American Airlines and its regional carrier, PSA, as well as Sikorsky Aircraft, manufacturer of the military helicopter, and Collins Aerospace, to preserve all evidence involving the mid-air crash. Clifford Law Offices also filed government-issued “Form 95s” that are required to present claims against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) for property damage, personal injury or wrongful death allegedly caused by a federal employee’s negligence or wrongful act occurring within the scope of the employee’s federal employment. The $250 million claims are directed against multiple governmental agencies that may be responsible. The government has six months from the filing date 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.

For further information, contact Clifford Law Offices Communications Partner, Pamela Sakowicz Menaker at 847-721-0909 (cell) or Pammenaker@cliffordlaw.com.

Media Files:

• Senate Hearing Recording
• Arielle Roth Testimony
• Brigadier General Matthew Braman Testimony
• NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy Testimony
• Rocheleau Testimony