Army Col. Eddie Kinley, a chaplain, speaks Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, during a candlelight vigil at Fort Belvoir, Va. The vigil was held to honor the 12th Aviation Battalion helicopter crew that perished in a midair collision over the Potomac River. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
FORT BELVOIR, Va. — Soldiers, family members and friends gathered at the base chapel on Wednesday night for a candle vigil to honor three Army crew members who were killed when their helicopter collided in midair with a commercial jet over the Potomac River in Washington.
“There is an appointed, specific time for everything under the sun,” said Army Col. Eddie Kinley, a chaplain. “If truth be told, there’s no greater loss than that of a loved one. We are gathered here this evening because of three soldiers we lost tragically.”
Capt. Rebecca Lobach, Staff Sgt. Ryan O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves were killed in the Jan. 29 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. The collision killed 67 people between the two aircraft, making it the country’s deadliest aviation incident in almost 25 years.
Lobach, 28, 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 has 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,” her family said in a statement earlier this month.
A soldier lights the candle of another mourner on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, during a candlelight vigil at Fort Belvoir, Va. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
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 the night of the crash. 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 the day of the crash 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.
Participants mourn Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, during a candlelight vigil in Fort Belvoir, Va. The vigil was held to honor the 12th Aviation Battalion helicopter crew that perished in a midair collision over the Potomac River on Jan. 29. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Md., 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.
His wife Carrie, stepson Michael Lester, and family friends attended the vigil at the base. People who came took time afterward to express their condolences to the family.
Kinley told the crowd of more than 50 people that there is a time for everything — to laugh, cry, success and failure.
“That’s God’s desire in every person’s life … to demonstrate to each of us that there is growth, even in death. Even when God subtracts, we still multiply,” the chaplain said. “It might not be immediate but in time you’ll discover that even when God subtracts, he still multiples.”
Val Silva-Horan, a family friend of Andrew Eaves, who died in the crash, wipes a tear from her eye on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, during a vigil to honor three Army crew members who were killed when their helicopter collided in midair with a commercial jet over the Potomac River in Washington. (Eric Kayne/Stars and Stripes)
As mourners held the vigil at Fort Belvoir on Wednesday, investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration, National Transportation Safety Board and the Army continue to search for answers about what caused the crash.
NTSB Chairwoman Jennifer Homendy on Friday said a recording from the helicopter cockpit suggests the crew might have missed a key instruction just before the collision, according to a report from The Associated Press.
Homendy said the helicopter’s pilot was being tested on the use of night vision goggles and flying by instruments. Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight.
