Photo: Andrew Leyden / Zuma Press
The US military has officially identified the third pilot killed in a collision between an H-60 Black Hawk military helicopter and an American Airlines CRJ-700 passenger jet. The crash occurred on Wednesday during a landing approach at Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., killing 67 people.
According to the Daily Mail, the deceased pilot was 28-year-old Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina. She was one of three servicemen on board the helicopter that collided with the civilian airliner.
Delay in disclosing the identity of the pilot
At first, the Pentagon refused to disclose Lobach’s name at the request of her family. They only gave their official consent over the weekend after media speculation about the circumstances of the accident spread. Lobach’s relatives said their reticence was due to “unfounded allegations” that diversity policies may have been a factor in the crash.
Lobakh’s career and military experience
Captain Lobach worked in the White House during the Joe Biden administration and was an aviation officer in the US Army from July 2019 to January 2025. She received numerous awards for her service and had more than 500 hours of flying time in Black Hawk helicopters, Fox News reports.
The family of the deceased described her as “a shining star in our lives” in an official statement through the US Army. They said: “She was kind, generous, funny, ambitious and strong.”
Speculation and political resonance
The crash sparked heated debate in American society. According to De Telegraaf, conspiracy theories ranged from a “secret mission with VIPs” to the participation of a transgender pilot in the flight. The latter version began to circulate after Donald Trump accused the Biden administration of prioritising diversity policy over aviation safety.
Worst air crash in the US in 20 years
The collision killed all 67 people on board the two planes. According to the US aviation authorities, this is the largest aviation tragedy in the US in the last two decades.
The investigation is ongoing, and experts from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are analysing the black boxes of both aircraft to determine the exact cause of the crash.
