Families of Washington, D.C. plane crash victims sue American Airlines

WASHINGTON (WLNE) — Several family members who lost a loved one in the deadly midair collision in Washington, D.C. announced at a press conference on Wednesday that they’re now suing American Airlines.

67 people were killed back in January when the black hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines regional flight, including young figure skaters from Barrington and Mansfield.

After a hearing, the National Transportation Safety Board determined the army helicopter that crashed into the passenger jet was flying higher than it should have been.

Doug Lane, the Barrington man who lost his son and wife in the crash, spoke at the press conference.

“All of these small decisions that were made by different people and different agencies, and we just needed a couple of them to make a slightly different decision one day at work to ensure that our family members arrived safely that day, and that was very difficult, it wasn’t like, you know, one big mistake, it was a perfect storm,” Lane said.

American Airlines, the Army, and the Federal Aviation Administration did not immediately respond to the lawsuit.