JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A downtown Jacksonville attorney is representing two Florida families who lost loved ones in January’s deadly mid-air collision between an American Airlines passenger jet and an Army Blackhawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C.
One of the 67 people killed on board the passenger jet was 28-year-old Melissa Nicandri, a Ponte Vedra High School graduate and the daughter of Jacksonville attorney Peter Nicandri.
Peter Nicandri told News4JAX that he learned about his daughter’s death when he received a phone call from her boyfriend, who told him Melissa was on Flight 5342, which had taken off from Wichita, Kansas.
Peter said he and his wife had been with Melissa over the weekend in New York when she announced she was taking a business trip to Kansas.
After graduating from Ponte Vedra High, Melissa Nicandri attended Vanderbilt University, then Johns Hopkins University, before landing a job in New York City.
“She’s just anything that anyone would want in a daughter. She was beautiful. Smart. Kind. Generous. Funny,” Peter shared, describing how proud he was of his daughter. “She was a great sister. She was a great friend. She worked hard and had so much ahead of her.”
The Nicandri family is now being represented by Jacksonville attorney Robert Spohrer in a lawsuit against both the federal government and American Airlines, alleging negligence by both.
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The federal government has already admitted fault in the fatal collision.
Spohrer told News4JAX that neither he nor his clients could publicly comment on the lawsuit because the federal judge presiding over the case asked all the parties involved to refrain from making public comments about the case.
News4JAX consulted with Jacksonville aviation attorney Ed Booth, who has no affiliation with the case, to more fully understand the lawsuit.
According to the 133-page federal complaint filed on behalf of Melissa Nicandri’s family, negligence by both the United States government and American Airlines led to her death.
On Jan. 29, 2025, Nicandri was one of the passengers on board American Airlines flight 5342 when the airliner crashed into an Army Blackhawk helicopter while attempting to land at Reagan National Airport.
An investigation revealed the helicopter was not only flying at a higher altitude than was permitted in congested airspace, but the helicopter’s transponder was off, so it didn’t appear on the airliner’s traffic collision avoidance system.
The investigation also revealed that the air traffic controller failed to follow FAA procedures for visually separating aircraft.
News4JAX wanted to know why American Airlines was named as a defendant in the lawsuit if the Army helicopter was not where it was supposed to be, and the helicopter’s transponder was turned off.
“I believe American Airlines was included so that we get a complete airing of all the issues at one time. American Airlines has some potential liability due to the duty of the pilots to see and avoid other aircraft,” Booth said.
In other words, although the military helicopter did not show up on the airliner’s traffic collision avoidance system, the airline pilots were still required to look out the window for other aircraft that could pose a threat to the passenger jet.
Another issue up for debate is the type of damages to be recovered.
Although the deadly mid-air crash happened over Washington D.C airspace, lawsuits were filed from different states that have different laws on recovering damages in wrongful death lawsuits.
“One that will be important in this case is that some states allow recovery of pre-death pain and suffering, so there’s a mid-air collision, and the passengers may have been alive up to 10 seconds before they perished when hitting the Potomac River,” Booth explained. “That 10 seconds of agony is compensable under the laws of some states. It typically isn’t here in Florida.
Booth also said this is the type of case in which a jury will likely decide the outcome for American Airlines, while a judge decides the outcome for the federal government.
The trial against both defendants is scheduled for April 2027.