Final Soldier Killed in Black Hawk Collision Identified as Family, Friends Grieve

Captain Rebecca Lobach smiles in the cockpit of a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter on February 28, 2024. (Photo courtesy of Samantha Brown)

Posted: February 3, 2025 --- Military.com | By Thomas Novelly

Published February 01, 2025, at 6:19pm ET

The U.S. Army on Saturday identified a pilot who was among 3 soldiers who died when their Black Hawk helicopter collided with a passenger airplane over Washington DC, this week, after the service initially withheld the name at the request of the family amid online speculation over her identity. Captain Rebecca Lobach, 28, of Durham, North Carolina, was identified as one of the pilots of the Black Hawk flight that collided with American Eagle Flight 5342 around 9pm Wednesday evening near Ronald Reagan Washington DC National Airport.

All 67 people aboard the helicopter and airplane died in the crash. "We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca," her family said in a statement. "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." Friends and fellow Army officers who served alongside Captain Lobach told Military.com in interviews Saturday that she was a skilled, dedicated and patriotic soldier who inspired and lifted up those around her.

They all spoke to Military.com about their own personal memories, and their comments were not representative of the Department of Defense (DoD) or the Army. Lobach was commissioned into the Army from the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, where she was a distinguished military graduate. Captain Lobach was commissioned as an active-duty aviation officer in the summer of 2019.

1^st Lieutenant Samatha Brown attended the University of North Carolina (UNC) with Lobach and met her during her 1^st day of ROTC. She told Military.com that her 1^stimpression of Lobach was her immense kindness, and they soon became friends. 1^st Lieutenant Brown had texted with Captain Lobach the day of the deadly crash. The 2 were planning to take a trip together in a month and were coordinating their plans.

A grainy snippet of video footage taken in the dark of night, seemingly by an airport CCTV camera, appears to show the fatal mid-air collision of an American Airlines passenger plane and a military Black Hawk helicopter. (January 30^th) AP. "She wasn't average; she was so far above average. She was so intelligent, she was so dedicated, she loved her friends and her family so fiercely," Brown told Military.com.

"She was just outstanding." 2^nd Lieutenant Lexi Freas, a UNC graduate who met Lobach through the alumni network. Freas was inspired to become a Black Hawk pilot in the D.C. Army National Guard after connecting with Lobach and going on a flight with her. 2^nd Lieutenant Freas said Captain Lobach helped her prepare and edit her application to join the D.C. National Guard, saying "her impact and her effort changed the trajectory of my career, my life." News of Lobach's death was personal, not just to her but to the entire U.S. Army aviation community.

"The aviation community, in its whole, is very small. The Army aviation community is even smaller, and the Army aviation community of women is even smaller, and those that are female aviators that also went to UNC is incredibly small," Freas told Military.com. "So, to share so many qualities and decisions within our career and life, it hit way closer to home than anything else ever has. It was gut-wrenching to hear."

Captain Lobach was flying in the Black Hawk helicopter with Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Andrew Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, and Staff Sergeant Ryan O'Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia. All 3 were with Bravo Company, 12^th Aviation Battalion, out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Eaves and O'Hara were both identified on Friday by the military, but Lobach's name was initially withheld from the news release at the request of her family.

"After privately grieving, the family recognized that waiting to release her name was feeding narratives that distracted from the incredible person and pilot that Rebecca was," a person familiar with the family's decision told Military.com. Secretary of Defense (SecDef) Pete Hegseth and Trump made baseless claims on Thursday morning that somehow diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), practices were connected to the tragedy. Shortly after the crash, conspiracy theories emerged online about the identity of the 3^rd member of the Black Hawk helicopter.

Accounts falsely and inaccurately claimed that Jo Ellis, a transgender pilot and CWO 2 who is a member of the Virginia National Guard, was piloting the helicopter. There were no Virginia National Guard personnel on the flight, and Jo Ellis released a video explaining she was alive, and the rumors were "insulting to the families to try to tie this to some sort of political agenda." Freas, who is attending flight school in April, said she wants to follow through with her aviation goals because of the positive impact Captain Lobach had on her life and career.

"I owe so much of my career to her, and my hope is to bring her honor by becoming a better officer and a better pilot every day," 2^nd Lieutenant Freas said. Captain Lobach was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon, according to the service. "Her life was short, but she made a difference in the lives of all who knew her," her family said in a statement. "Our hearts break for the other families who have lost loved ones in this national tragedy, and we mourn with them."