Family members who lost loved ones when a passenger jet and an Army Black Hawk helicopter collided midair in Washington, D.C., in January said in a letter that Army leadership is failing to take accountability and be transparent with those who are still mourning from the tragedy.
The letter, posted publicly Wednesday, is addressed to Army Secretary Dan Driscoll and calls on the service to communicate directly with the families in the wake of the crash, as well as designate a point person to keep them notified of steps in several ongoing probes related to the circumstances of the collision.
"We understand that legal and procedural considerations may complicate engagement with families," relatives of those who died on American Eagle Flight 5342 wrote. "However, the unprecedented nature of this tragedy calls for a higher standard of openness, compassion and leadership worthy of public trust."
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The Jan. 29 crash between the passenger plane and the Black Hawk helicopter from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, killed the three-member helicopter crew and the 64 aboard the flight -- marking the worst major commercial airline crash in the U.S. in 16 years. The 168 family members who signed the letter noted they had heard from the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration and American Airlines but said in the letter they were alarmed by the silence from the Army.
"Other agencies have found ways to engage constructively with us while maintaining the integrity of their investigations," the families wrote. "We believe the Army can, and should, do the same."
Family members of those lost on Flight 5342 told Military.com that, beginning roughly a week after the crash and the initial aftermath, there had not been any formal organized communication with the Army.
But members of Congress have gotten involved, and now a tentative meeting between Army leadership and the families may be in the works, Military.com has learned. That meeting may occur around a scheduled three-day National Transportation Safety Board investigation hearing into the crash scheduled for later this month.
Montrell Russell, an Army spokesperson, confirmed to Military.com in an emailed statement on Friday, after publication, that the service planned on meeting with the families, adding that it “deeply shares in their grief.”
"We extend our deepest condolences to the families affected by this tragic loss and acknowledge their frustrations,” Russell said in the statement. “We share the families' goal of preventing similar tragedies from occurring in the future. We are fully cooperating with the NTSB investigation and intend to meet with the families before the scheduled NTSB hearings.”
The Army’s statement is a notable turnaround in tone from remarks made by Driscoll just last month.
Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., asked Driscoll during a June hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee why there hadn't been any direct communication with the families. While the Army secretary said the service was "doing everything we can" to learn about the crash, he also pointed to ongoing litigation as a reason for the lack of transparency.
"There is obviously an investigation and lawsuits ongoing," Driscoll said. "And the best advice we've received from counsel to date is to let those play out."
A spokesperson for Driscoll did not return an email request seeking comment on the letter by press time.
Amy Hunter, who lost her cousin Peter Livingston; his wife Donna; and their daughters, Everly and Alydia, in the Jan. 29 crash, told Military.com in an interview Thursday that she hopes the Army engaging in discussions will help ensure that other families won't experience the same pain.
"We want to do everything that we can so that no service members and their families, and no more civilians and their families, are put in the situation that we were," Hunter said. "We believe that a way to help prevent that is to have open communication and an ongoing relationship to help make sure that our national airspace is as safe as it can be, in particular, as it relates to military and civilian aviation coordination."
NTSB briefings following the crash have pointed to several potential issues with the Army's Black Hawk helicopter training flight from Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion. Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, of Durham, North Carolina; Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland; and Staff Sgt. Ryan O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, were all killed in the crash.
Investigators said that crew may not have received accurate altitude readings in their cockpit and that an important transmission from air traffic control just before the deadly crash may not have been received, Military.com previously reported.
In March, the NTSB called for the helicopter path, called Route 4, used by Army Black Hawks for training to be closed. Investigators cited upward of 15,000 close calls in which commercial airplanes and helicopters had a lateral separation distance of less than 1 nautical mile and vertical separation of less than 400 feet at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport between October 2021 and December 2024.
The FAA announced it had closed Route 4 shortly after those revelations.
Last month, lawmakers wrote to the inspectors general of the Department of Transportation and the Army "pushing for respective investigations into Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and Army policies and procedures that may have contributed" to the crash, a news release detailed.
Family members and lawmakers are also probing whether issues and errors involving the helicopter's Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B, played a role in the crash.
The letter signed by the families calls on Driscoll to appoint a dedicated family liaison to serve as a point of contact with grieving relatives, schedule a meeting with the group within 30 days, and commit to transparency as well as publicly support the inspector general audits being requested by lawmakers.
"Given that this is the deadliest incident involving U.S. civilian casualties caused by the military in modern history, the Army has a heightened responsibility to ensure full public transparency and urgent implementation of meaningful safety reforms," the letter reads. "The scale of this tragedy demands complete cooperation and accountability from all parties involved -- including the U.S. Army."
Editor’s note: This article has been updated with an Army statement provided to Military.com after publication.
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