Another pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that horrifically collided with an American Airlines passenger plane on Wednesday evening has just been identified.
Capt. Rebecca Lobach was one of four soldiers killed in the explosion that tragically took the lives of over 60 people.
The 28-year-old was originally from Durham, NC and enlisted in the National Guard in 2018.
She served as an aviation officer from 2019-2025, and had also worked as a White House aide underneath the Biden administration.
Here’s everything we know about her so far:
JUST IN: The third soldier aboard the Black Hawk that crashed into the American Airlines plane has been identified as Capt. Rebecca Lobach, who previously worked as a White House aide in the Biden admin.
Lobach, 28, served as an aviation officer in the Army.
BREAKING: Army has now identified the female pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with American Airlines flight as Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/BzOf04hL2I
The Department of Defense and the family have authorized the release of the identify of the 3rd Soldier on board the UH-60 that crashed in DC.
She has been identified as CPT. Rebecca Lobach of Durham, N.C. She attended UNC Chapel Hill and went through ROTC. Friends and family… pic.twitter.com/uxZlMou06e
Army releases name of co-pilot of Blackhawk helicopter: Captain Rebecca Lobach, a star ROTC student who graduated from UNC with top honors and wanted to attend medical school after her Army service. She had 500 hours of flying time, about 250 flights, considered on the high end… pic.twitter.com/NmFtS47vWk
One of Rebecca’s friends shared this message on X:
I’m heartbroken to share that my friend Capt. Rebecca Lobach died in Wednesday evening’s crash near DC’s National Airport.
Rebecca was brilliant and fearless, a talented pilot and a PT stud. We trained and commissioned together from @UNCArmyROTC, and we had a lot of fun along… pic.twitter.com/ZaKgWssdSI
One of three soldiers aboard a Black Hawk helicopter that was involved in the deadly midair collision with an American Airlines flight Wednesday near Reagan National Airport outside Washington, D.C., was identified Saturday by the Army as 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca Lobach, who had worked as a White House aide in the Biden administration.
The Army said Lobach had served as an aviation officer in the Army from July 2019 until January 2025. She had been awarded the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.Her family in a statement released through the Army described her as a “bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong.”
Lobach was a native of Durham, North Carolina, and enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard while in college in December 2018, a friend, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, told CBS News.
She attended Sewanee: The University of the South, where she played basketball, and then later the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she completed a degree in biology in 2019 as a distinguished military graduate, according to Brown.
When she enlisted in the National Guard, she did so as a Simultaneous Membership Program cadet, a program which allows cadets to take part in both the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and the National Guard at the same time.
Lobach also served as a White House social aide during the Biden administration, Brown said. Just last month, she escorted Ralph Lauren through the White House when he was among those awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Joe Biden.
The U.S. Army has identified the female soldier in the doomed Black Hawk helicopter which crashed into an American Airlines flight this week, killing more than 60 people.Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, who served since July 2019, the Army said in a statement.
The Army had initially refused to identify Lobach at the request of her family.
Please keep Rebecca’s family and friends in your prayers, as well as the families of all the other victims of this tragedy.
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