The U.S. Army has identified the third pilot of the H-60 Black Hawk Helicopter that collided with an American Airline CRJ-700 passenger jet on Wednesday as it was on approach to land at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, killing 67 people.
Captain Rebecca M. Lobach, 28, from Durham, North Carolina
was one of three soldiers aboard the chopper that crashed into the jet just as it was coming into land.
The Army had initially refused to identify Lobach at the request of her family but the decision to release her name came ‘at the request of and in coordination with the family,’ according to a statement released by the Army.
‘We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. She was a bright star in all our lives,’ her family said. ‘Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle.’
Lobach had worked as a White House aide during the Biden administration and had served as an aviation officer in the Army from July 2019 until January 2025.
Her family went on to describe her as ‘kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong.’
Lobach had been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Lobach began her career in the United States Army as a distinguished military graduate in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where she was a distinguished military graduate where she was in the top 20 percent of cadets nationwide, her family explained. Captain Rebecca M. Lobach, 28, from Durham, North Carolina was one of three soldiers aboard the H-60 Black Hawk Helicopter that collided with an American Airlines jet as it was landing
