Family Files Claims Against U.S. for Washington Plane Crash

Mr. Clifford said he was weighing legal action on behalf of other victims’ families.

Mr. Clifford, who is also representing families of the crash of a 2019 Boeing 737 Max in Ethiopia, said he had asked several companies to preserve evidence related to last month’s episode. That includes American Airlines and its subsidiary, PSA Airlines, which was operating the plane, as well as Sikorsky Aircraft, the Lockheed Martin subsidiary that makes the Black Hawk helicopter, and Collins Aerospace, which makes components for military and commercial aircraft.

The airlines were ultimately responsible for the passengers’ safety, Mr. Clifford said, particularly considering mounting safety concerns at Reagan National, including congestion and previous close calls.

“We think that the airlines knew of all these near misses, that they knew that there were these potential dangers, and under the law as the common carrier, American and PSA had the highest duty of care,” he said.

American Airlines declined to comment.

On the night of the crash, the helicopter crew had asked an air traffic controller for permission to use visual separation with the plane, by which pilots maintain distance from a nearby aircraft by keeping it in their line of sight. The request was granted, but questions remain about whether the controller had left too much room for confusion in communications with the helicopter crew or whether that crew had been focused on the wrong plane altogether.

At a news conference last week, the N.T.S.B. shared two instances in which it appeared that the helicopter crew might not have fully received messages from the air traffic controller. The episode also shed light on concerns that the air traffic control system has come under increasing strain in recent years, partly because of chronic understaffing.

Mr. Crafton, 40, lived in Connecticut and studied aviation management at Bob Jones University, where he met his wife. On the night of the crash, he was returning from a business trip to Wichita, Kan.