U.S. Government Admits Army, Air Traffic Controller Failures—Not DEI—Caused January’s D.C. Midair Crash

Remember when Trump blamed the crash on DEI and former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama just days after being inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States?

Eleven months later, the U.S. government admits massive failures between the U.S. Army and air traffic controllers in the deadly Jan. 29 midair collision over Washington D.C.’s Potomac River that took the lives of 67 people, CNN reports.

“The United States admits that it owed a duty of care to Plaintiffs, which it breached,” the new filing by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) in a civil lawsuit filed in early 2025 by the family of a passenger killed on the American Eagle flight 5342 said. “The United States admits pilots flying PAT25 failed to maintain proper and safe visual separation from AE5342.”

In the unexpected admission from the military, the US government also admitted an air traffic controller in the tower “did not comply” with a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) order governing air traffic control procedure. As a result, 67 people were killed in the midair collision following the Army crew telling controllers in the airport control tower that they would maintain “visual separation” on the aircraft that was preparing to land at Reagan National Airport from Charlotte, NC.

It’s a profound change from what — and who — President Donald Trump blamed shortly after being inaugurated as the 47th president.

During the first press conference of his new tenure, Trump blamed the crash on DEI and former Presidents Joe Biden and Barack Obama after starting with a moment of silence and a prayer for the victims. “They put a big push to put diversity in the FAA’s program. Then, in an article, the Federal Aviation Administration, this was before I got to office, recently, second term, the FAA is actively recruiting workers who suffer severe intellectual disabilities, psychiatric problems, and other mental and physical conditions under a diversity and inclusion hiring initiative spelled out on the agency’s website,” Trump said.

While the admission is a step forward, federal government attorney Robert Clifford said it’s not entirely the FAA’s or the military’s fault. “The United States is admitting the Army and FAA’s responsibility for the needless loss in the crash of an Army helicopter and American Airlines Flight 5342 at Reagan National Airport,” he said in a statement.

“However, the government rightfully acknowledges that it is not the only entity responsible for this deadly crash.”

Attorneys admit the Black Hawk crew’s choices were a “cause-in-fact and a proximate cause of the accident and the death,” but also argue DC-area airport-based federal air traffic controllers can’t be held liable since they weren’t the cause of the crash. Lawyers representing victims’ families say the crash was a result of “collective failures” by the US government and personnel, including controllers, who should have known that the airport approaches, and the airspace in the vicinity of Washington D.C.’s Reagan National Airport (‘DCA’), presented certain safety risks, specifically including the possibility of a mid-air collision.”

As the blame game continues, the U.S. Senate is doing what it can to make sure a tragedy like this doesn’t happen again. According to the Seattle Times, the Senate passed a bipartisan defense bill that will require all aircraft, including military planes, to use Automatic Dependent Surveillance–Broadcast technology (ADS-B) to broadcast their locations.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz says the bill will save lives and the “tragedy could have been avoided” if the Army Black Hawk had used its ADS-B system to broadcast its location prior to the crash. In addition, the bill requires a review of airport safety measures across the country to mitigate the same risks that contributed to the Reagan Airport crash.