WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The family of one of the victims of the January 29 fatal collision between an American Airlines regional jet and a U.S. Army helicopter that killed 67 people near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport sued the airline, its subsidiary and the U.S. government on Wednesday.

The lawsuit also names PSA Airlines, which was operating the flight.

The lawsuit said the airlines along with the Army and Federal Aviation Administration failed to prevent the “wholly avoidable tragedy.”

The suit said the Army flight crew failed to operate the Blackhawk helicopter at or below the mandatory altitude and the FAA failed to separate aircraft in airspace and issue safety alerts when aircraft are in an unsafe proximity.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Mark Porter)

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