The U.S. Army has identified the third soldier killed in a Black Hawk helicopter collision with an American Airlines passenger jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this week, an accident that left 67 people dead.
The Army on Saturday named Captain Rebecca Lobach of Durham, North Carolina, as the third service member who died in the crash. Lobach, an aviation officer in the Army since 2019, was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The military had initially withheld her name at the family’s request but later released it with their consent.
“She was a bright star in all our lives,” Lobach’s family said in a statement, adding that she had been an advocate for victims of sexual assault and aspired to become a doctor after her military service. “No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reported Saturday that data from the CRJ700 aircraft’s flight data recorder indicated the plane was at approximately 325 feet (91 meters), with a possible variance of 25 feet, at the time of impact.
Preliminary evidence suggests the Army helicopter may have been flying above 200 feet (61 meters), the maximum altitude for its designated route.
Radar data from the airport’s control tower initially indicated the helicopter was at 200 feet at the time of the crash, but NTSB officials stressed that further analysis is needed to verify the discrepancy.
“That’s what our job is—to figure that out,” NTSB board member Todd Inman told reporters Saturday.
Investigators confirmed that the air traffic controller alerted the Army helicopter about the presence of the CRJ700 roughly two minutes before the collision.
One second before impact, the cockpit voice recorder captured a “verbal reaction” from the American Airlines flight crew, officials said. Flight data also showed the aircraft’s nose began to rise just before the collision.
An automated radio alert repeated “traffic, traffic, traffic” before the sounds of impact were recorded.
The Army had previously identified the other two soldiers killed in the crash as Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39.
Authorities have not officially released the names of the 60 passengers and four crew members who died on the jet, though many have been identified through family statements and social media.
Recovery crews plan to begin removing the aircraft wreckage from the Potomac River on Sunday. As of Saturday, 42 bodies had been recovered, according to the Washington, D.C., fire department.
