Military Pilot Rebecca Lobach, 28, Recognized as Third Soldier on Helicopter in D.C. Aircraft Crash

The U.S. Military has shared the id of the third soldier who was aboard the Black Hawk helicopter that crashed right into a passenger airplane as Capt. Rebecca Lobach.

In line with an announcement from the Military shared with PEOPLE on Saturday, Feb. 1, Lobach was a 28-year-old captain initially from Durham, N.C. She was assigned to the twelfth Aviation Battalion in Fort Belvoir, Va., and had served since July 2019.

The choice to withhold her identify initially was on the household’s request, and now the choice to launch her identify has come “on the request of and in coordination with the household,” based on the Military assertion.

“We’re devastated by the lack of our beloved Rebecca. She was a vivid star in all our lives,” her household mentioned by way of an announcement launched by the Military. “Rebecca was a warrior and wouldn’t hesitate to defend her nation in battle.”

Lobach’s pal, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, advised CBS Information that she additionally served as a White Home social aide in the course of the Biden administration.

In January, Lobach escorted dressmaker Ralph Lauren by way of the White Home as he was visiting to obtain the Presidential Medal of Freedom from former President Joe Biden, Brown advised CBS Information.

The Military captain attended Sewanee: The College of the South, the place she performed basketball, after which later went to the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the place she obtained her diploma in biology in 2019 and was a distinguished army graduate, Brown added. She enlisted within the North Carolina Military Nationwide Guard in December 2018 whereas nonetheless in faculty.

A lot of Lobach’s buddies and Military colleagues have spoken out following her demise, remembering her as a devoted captain and pal.

“Not solely did she deserve what she achieved, however she was overqualified more often than not for what she was capable of accomplish,” Capt. Bilal Kordab, who recruited Lobach to the North Carolina Nationwide Guard, advised USA As we speak. “Nothing was simply handed to her.”

“How do you sum up 28 years of an individual?” her pal Lt. Brown added to the outlet. “28 years outdated and gone violently… it is the worst attainable factor.”

Brown additionally remembered Lobach as a voracious reader, who would usually supply to purchase buddies books that she preferred, an athlete who might “smoke” anybody when it got here to weightlifting and somebody who was captivated with her work.

“She was simply so jazzed” when she obtained the title of captain one yr in the past, Brown advised USA As we speak. “She was so proud to be piloting command.”

In line with Brown, Robach was additionally a licensed sufferer advocate with SHARP, the Military’s Sexual Harassment/Assault Response and Prevention program.

The Military beforehand recognized the opposite two troopers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Nice Mills, Md., and Employees. Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Ga., who was the chopper’s crew chief.

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The transfer to withhold Lobach’s identify got here after President Donald Trump claimed that the federal government’s variety, fairness and inclusion (DEI) insurance policies and the psychological well being of workers have been responsible for the crash.

“I hope that folks can look previous the political facet of the entire scenario and look previous her race and her gender,” Lobach’s pal, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sabrina Bell, advised USA As we speak. “I hope that she’s remembered extra for the affect that she had on different folks’s lives.”

On the night of Wednesday, Jan. 29, American Airways Flight 5342 collided with a Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River because the passenger flight approached Ronald Reagan Washington Nationwide Airport. The crash, which concerned three troopers on the helicopter and 64 folks on the airplane, is believed to be the most threatening plane incident since 2001.

The fiery collision despatched each aircrafts plummeting into the Potomac River and all 67 passengers on each aircrafts are presumed useless.