Third crew member of helicopter involved in deadly Washington crash identified
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Rescuers on a boat working next to the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter on Jan 30 at the site of the crash.
PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - The US Army on Feb 1 released the name of the third soldier who died on a Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines passenger jet 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 assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
The army had initially declined to identify Captain Lobach, an unusual decision that the agency said was made at the request of her family.
But on Feb 1, the army said in a statement that the family had agreed to release her name to the public.
“She was a bright star in all our lives,” her family said in a statement, noting that she worked as an advocate for victims of sexual assault and planned to become a doctor after her military service. “No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”
The army previously identified the other two soldiers killed in the Jan 29 crash as Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39.
The names of the 60 passengers and four crew members who died on the jet have not been officially released, although many have been identified through family and social media.
Crews are preparing to remove the wreckage of the aircraft from the Potomac River starting on Feb 2. Forty-two bodies have been recovered thus far, said the Washington DC fire department on Feb 1. REUTERS
