In a statement released on Saturday, the U.S. Army shared the name of the officer who was piloting the helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet over the Potomac in Washington D.C. on January 29th. The resulting crash killed all 67 people aboard both aircraft, the deadliest such incident since 2001. 28-year-old U.S. Army Captain Rebecca Lobach was flying the Black Hawk on a training mission, according to the U.S. Army Public Affairs office.
The communiqué indicated that Lobach’s identity was being shared “at the request of and in coordination with” her family, whose statement was attached to the Army’s press release. “She was a bright star in all our lives,” the family’s statement read. “She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.” Lobach had served in the Army since 2019 as an aviation officer, earning multiple awards including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon. According to her family’s statement, she also worked as a “White House Military Social Aide,” assisting in the organization of events such as Medal of Honor and Presidential Medal of Freedom award ceremonies.
In another statement released a day earlier, the U.S. Army Public Affairs Office identified the crew on board with Lobach: Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39. Eaves, who had over a thousand hours of flight time, was overseeing the training flight and would have taken over the controls in the event of an emergency. O’Hara, a father of one, would have been sitting in the back of the helicopter.
The U.S. Army and the FAA have stated that they will assist the National Transport Safety Board’s investigation into the crash. It is still unclear how the Army Black Hawk wound up directly in the final landing approach airspace of Ronald Reagan International Airport. In the aftermath of the crash, Trump indicated that the helicopter was at fault for “flying too high” in that airspace. He also has claimed without any evidence that DEI policies “could have been” a decisive factor that led to it. Pressed on what precisely connected such policies to the crash, Trump replied, “because I have common sense, ok? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t.” The crew’s credentials clearly disprove Trump’s baseless claims.
