Cpt. Rebecca Lobach, of Durham, N.C., was one of three soldiers killed in a midair collision with a commercial jet over the Potomac River Wednesday, January 29, 2025. (U.S. Army)
WASHINGTON — An Army captain from North Carolina was the third crew member killed when a Black Hawk helicopter collided in midair with a commercial jet over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C., the service announced Saturday.
“Our deepest condolences go out to her family, and all the families who are mourning the loss of their loved ones impacted by this devastating accident. We continue to work with the families of our fallen soldiers and support the ongoing investigations,” the Army said in a statement.
Capt. Rebecca Lobach of Durham, N.C., served as an aviation officer in the Army from July 2019 to January 2025. She did not have any deployments. Her awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca,” the family said in a statement issued Saturday. “She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
Staff Sgt. Ryan O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves were the other two crew members killed in the Wednesday collision between American Airlines Flight 5342 coming from Wichita, Kan., and the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter from Bravo Company of the 12th Aviation Battalion at Davison Army Airfield at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. The collision killed 67 people between the two aircraft, making it the country’s deadliest aviation incident in almost a quarter century.
During a Pentagon briefing Thursday about the crash, Jonathan Koziol, chief of staff of the Army’s aviation directorate, commented about female helicopter pilots.
“As for women in the military, flying a helicopter is like driving a car. You just got to learn how to do it and anyone can do it with the proper training,” he said.
Lobach, whose age was not provided, began her career in the Army after graduating from the ROTC program at the University of North Carolina, and was in the top 20% of cadets nationwide, the family said. She twice served as a platoon leader and as a company executive officer in the 12th Aviation Battalion. With more than 450 hours of flight time, she earned certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion.
“Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle. But she was as graceful as she was fierce,” the family said.
Lobach was also a certified victim advocate for the Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program. She hoped to continue her education and become a physician when her time with the Army ended, the family said.
“Her life was short, but she made a difference in the lives of all who knew her. Our hearts break for the other families who have lost loved ones in this national tragedy and we mourn with them,” the family said.
O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Ga., served as a Black Hawk repairer in the Army from July 2014 until his death. He was the crew chief onboard the aircraft Wednesday night when the crash happened. He deployed to Afghanistan from March 2017 to August 2017.
His father, Gary O’Hara, told The Washington Post that his son texted him earlier on Wednesday about a new assignment that might bring him, his wife and 1-year-old son back to Georgia later this year.
The awards that O’Hara earned include the Army Commendation Medal with C device for actions in combat, four Army Achievement Medals, a National Defense Service Medal, an Afghanistan Campaign Medal with campaign star and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
The remains of Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Md., have not yet been recovered.
Carrie Eaves, Andrew’s wife, posted on Facebook on Thursday that her husband was one of the Black Hawk pilots.
“We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve,” she wrote.
Eaves served in the Navy from August 2007 to September 2017 before transitioning to a Black Hawk pilot for the Army from September 2017 until his death.
Some of the awards that Eaves received include three Army Commendation Medals, a Navy Commendation Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, a Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and a Global War on Terrorism Service Medal.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Thursday granted a 48-hour operational pause for the 12th Aviation Battalion.
“The military does dangerous things. It does routine things on a regular basis. Tragically, last night, a mistake was made. I think [President Donald Trump] is right. There was some sort of an elevation issue that we have immediately begun investigating at the [Defense Department] and Army level,” Hegseth said during a White House briefing Thursday about the crash.
Trump blamed the crash, in part, on diversity, equity and inclusion programs and Democrats.
“I have common sense, OK? And unfortunately, a lot of people don’t. We want brilliant people doing this,” Trump told reporters about air traffic controllers and other aviation jobs. “When you have 60 planes coming in during a short period of time, and they’re all coming in different directions, and you’re dealing with very high-level computer work and very complex computers. And one of the other things I will tell you is that the systems that were built, I was going to rebuild the entire system, and then we had an election that didn’t turn out the way it should have, but they didn’t build the systems properly.”
Since Trump has returned to office, he has signed hundreds of executive orders. Some of those signed last week include one that declared the government would recognize only two sexes — male and female. He also rolled back DEI programs across all federal agencies.
Trump signed another executive order Monday calling for the Defense Department and the Department of Homeland Security to abolish every DEI office within the agencies.
“We will have the best and brightest in every position possible…it is color blind and merit based, the best leaders possible,” Hegseth said at the briefing. “Whether it’s flying Black Hawks, flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government. The era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department.”
Koziol said the instructor pilot on the Black Hawk that crashed was the designated pilot in command and had 1,000 flying hours while the other pilot had 500 hours. He added the crew chief in the back of the helicopter had been with the unit for a “very long time.”
Koziol said the route over the Potomac, known as Route 4, was flown regularly and would have been relatively easy for experienced pilots such as the ones aboard the helicopter that crashed. He added the crew would have been using visual cues and interacting with air traffic control to ensure they avoided any risk.
“This is a relatively easy corridor to fly. This should not have been a problem,” Koziol said, adding the maximum altitude for Route 4 was 200 feet.
It is unclear how high the Black Hawk was flying Wednesday night. The New York Times reported the helicopter was flying above 300 feet and was at least a ½ mile off the approved route when it collided with the jet.
“The Black Hawk helicopter was flying too high, by a lot. It was far above the 200-foot limit,” Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday. “That’s not really too complicated to understand, is it???”
The Federal Aviation Administration is indefinitely restricting helicopter flights near Ronald Reagan National Airport after the deadly crash, Reuters reported Friday. The agency was barring most helicopters from parts of two helicopter routes near the airport and only allowing police and medical helicopters in the area between the airport and nearby bridges. The FAA official said the restrictions impact Route 1 and Route 4 near the airport.
There were 11,000 military helicopter flights annually within 30 miles of the airport, according to a 2021 government report.
Staffing at the air traffic control tower at the airport was “not normal for the time of day and volume of traffic,” according to an internal preliminary FAA safety report about the collision that was reviewed by The New York Times.
The controller who was handling helicopters in the airport’s vicinity Wednesday night was also instructing planes that were landing and departing from its runways. Those jobs typically are assigned to two controllers, rather than one.
A report last month by the Army Combat Readiness Center found in fiscal year 2024, the Army had the highest number of serious accidents, including fatalities, in a decade. Of the 15 incidents, only one involved a Black Hawk. The report noted pilots might not be getting enough flight hours.
Hegseth added in a video Thursday posted on X that the crew was “fairly experienced” and conducting an “annual proficiency training flight.” They had night vision goggles.
Night vision goggles are available for Army aviators during nighttime missions, but they are not always necessary, said Koziol, who noted he did not know whether the pilots were wearing the goggles during Wednesday night’s flight.
“They are helpful at night, obviously, and in an urban environment, they’re still useful. I would say on this route specifically because you’re flying over the river, there are no lights, so that wouldn’t impact them,” he said.
The cause of the collision is still unknown, but officials said flight conditions were clear as the jet was making a routine landing when the helicopter flew into its path.
Trump said during the briefing that the helicopter made a “slight turn at the very end and it was by that time too late.”
“It was exactly at the same line, and somebody should have been able to point that out. So all of this is going to be studied but … some really bad things happened, and some things happened that shouldn’t have happened,” he said.
“The FAA, [National Transportation Safety Board] and the United States Army will investigate. The NTSB will lead the investigation. We are working with local officials and will provide any additional information once it becomes available,” Ron McLendon of the U.S. Army Military District of Washington said in a statement Thursday.
The NTSB on Thursday night said the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder from the jet have been recovered from the wreckage in the river.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
