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Captain Rebecca Lobach, 28, was an official of the US Army Aviation. With more than 450 flight hours. She died in the Chopper-Jet collision in Washington DC this week.
CPT. Rebecca M. Lobach, from Durham, NC, served as an army aviation officer since July 2019 (Photo: AP)
The United States Army has published the name of the third soldier who died in a Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger plane from American Airlines near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this week, killing 67 people.
The soldier was identified as Captain Rebecca Lobach, from Durham, North Carolina. She was an aviation officer in the regular army since 2019 and was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Initially, the army refused to identify Rebecca, saying that he was at the request of the family. However, on Saturday, the army said that Lobach’s family had agreed to release his name to the public.
The army previously identified the other two soldiers killed in Wednesday’s accident as the sergeant of the staff Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, and the director of Officers 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39. The names of the 60 passengers and four Crew members who died on the plane have not officially published, although many have been identified through family and social networks.
Lovach’s family remembers her
In a statement issued by the Army, Rebecca’s family said: “It was a brilliant star in all our lives.”
“It was a distinguished military graduate in Rotc at the University of North Carolina, and was in 20 percent higher cadets throughout the country,” they said.
“He had more than 450 hours of flight time and obtained the certification as a pilot in command after extensive tests of the more elderly and experienced pilots in his battalion,” the family added.
His family also said she worked as a defender of victims of sexual assault and planned to become a doctor after her military service.
“No one dreamed bigger or worked more to achieve their goals,” they said.
“We are devastated by the loss of our dear Rebecca. She was a brilliant star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, fun, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve his goals, “the statement said, adding:” We asked him to respect our privacy while we cry this devastating loss. “
Washington DC air accident investigations
Meanwhile, the researchers of the National Transportation Security Board (NTSB) have determined that the CRJ700 plane was 325 feet (91 meters), more or less 25 feet, at the time of the impact, authorities said in an informative session of news from Saturday night.
The information was based on the data recovered from the plane’s flight data recorder, the “black box” that tracks the movements, speed and other aircraft parameters.
The new detail suggests that the army helicopter flew above 200 feet (61 meters), the maximum altitude for the route he was using.
Preliminary data indicate that the radar of the control tower showed that the helicopter at 200 feet at the time of the accident, although the authorities said the information has not been confirmed.
“That is our work to solve it,” said the member of the NTSB Board, Todd Inman, the journalists when asked what the discrepancy could explain.
Inman also said in Saturday’s informative session that the helicopter training flight would generally include the use of night vision glasses.
“We do not know at this time if the night vision glasses were really used, or what the environment can be,” he said. “A greater research should be able to inform us if that happened and in which factor the general accident can play.”
The data confirms that the air traffic controller warned the helicopter about the presence of the CRJ700 about two minutes before the accident.
A second before the impact, the crew on board the American flight had a “verbal reaction”, according to the voice recorder of the plane’s cabin, and the flight data shows that the plane’s nose began to increase, authorities said.
The official said that an automated radio transmission warned “traffic, traffic, traffic,” was heard in the voice recorder and then the sounds of the collision were heard before the recording ended.
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