Ah, a name and a picture, that should be enough for the forum prognosticators to tell us everything thing there is to know about her.

I’m not that good, so I went and found a news article. I wish my daughter would consider applying to UNC-Chapel Hill. The rest of the article makes her sound like a young woman that would make any parent proud.

Yeah, I don't think that this had anything to do with DEI...other than putting women in combat roles which is another discussion altogether.

This was nothing but a tragic fuck up by the helo crew. Didn't matter if they were male or female as both front seaters were both. They simply didn't see the other traffic, were above their ceiling, and a bunch of people died because of it.

There, but for the grace of God, go I.

quote:

Originally posted by slosig:
I wonder who was the pilot flying and who was the check airman. I imagine it will all come out eventually.

I think we can assume that she was, only because we hear a male voice on the ATC audio making the radio calls.

People are people and people make mistakes.

I was on duty as an emergency services dispatcher the day an Army helicopter crashed on one of the 14,000+ foot peaks in our county, killing all four on board. The two pilots were both Chief Warrant Officers (CW4s), both were men and very likely both were “white.” As members of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, they were among the best of the US military forces’ best.

The official investigation’s finding as to the cause of the crash? Pilot error.

"Check pilot" == instructor, at least for the purpose of this discussion. A check pilot is one who goes up with a trainee pilot OR a pilot doing a periodic re-certification, to evaluate their performance and give them a pass/fail. Whether this was a check flight or a routine training/practice flight, I don't know.

Cool. I deleted my post because I can’t find where I read who was doing what to verify what I remember reading.

They found an extra body: Body Found in Potomac River, Police Say No Connection to DC Plane Crash.

That should entertain the conspiracy folks.

The Army has identified the third soldier who was *inside the Black Hawk helicopter involved in Wednesday’s deadly midair collision near Reagan National Airport after it had been initially withheld.

Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, served as an aviation officer in the Army from July 2019 and had around 500 hours of flying time in the Black Hawk under her belt.

Lobach’s family had initially asked for her identity to be withheld because of unsubstantiated accusations that DEI was a factor in the crash.

The crew chief and Lobach’s other fellow pilot inside the Black Hawk were identified on Thursday as Ryan O'Hara and Chief Warrant Office 2 Andrew Eaves.

By Brie Stimson, Fox News

A little more of her backstory. I wouldn't read too much into this other than she was a motivated person trying to move up and looking for opportunities.

I have a close friend currently living in Washington, D.C. who is a pilot and Captain in the Coast Guard and has also been an aide to various congressman and woman. In his case though, he is an ardent Trump supporter. Just different sides of the same coin.

**********

Female Black Hawk helicopter soldier from DC crash identified as former Biden White House aide

One of the three soldiers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with an American Airlines flight near Reagan National Airport on Wednesday has been identified as a former White House aide during the Biden administration.

The Army identified the soldier as 28-year-old Captain Rebecca Lobach, an aviation officer who had served since July 2019. Lobach’s military honors included the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon. She first enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard while in college in December 2018, according to CBS News.

Lobach previously worked as a White House social aide under President Joe Biden. Last month, she escorted designer Ralph Lauren through the White House when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

The two other soldiers killed in the crash were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, who served as the crew chief. As of now, two of the three bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, per CBS News.

The Black Hawk took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia and was conducting a training mission when it collided with a commercial airplane approaching Reagan National Airport. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the helicopter pilots "were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission."

Authorities have confirmed that the midair collision resulted in the total death of 67 people with no survivors.

https://thepostmillennial.com/...aide#google_vignette

quote:

Originally posted by trapper189:
Cool. I deleted my post because I can’t find where I read who was doing what to verify what I remember reading.

They found an extra body: Body Found in Potomac River, Police Say No Connection to DC Plane Crash.

That should entertain the conspiracy folks.

Poor Mobster or gangbanger. If it weren’t for the midair, his body disposal would probably never have been discovered.

quote:

Lobach previously worked as a White House social aide under President Joe Biden

This has no bearing on anything. hell, I spent 6 years stationed at the White House years ago, it’s an assignment like many others, and not a political job nor does it equate to a political affiliation, it’s just an assignment.

quote:

The two other soldiers killed in the crash were Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, who served as the crew chief. As of now, two of the three bodies have been recovered from the wreckage, per CBS News.

The Black Hawk took off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia and was conducting a training mission when it collided with a commercial airplane approaching Reagan National Airport. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed the helicopter pilots "were on a routine, annual re-training of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission."

Based on this information it was a training flight. Who was flying and who was instructing has not been determined released yet.


As a side not, a co-worker was in the 3rd Inf Div stationed there, he had the honor of escorting a former Presidents daughter out during the inauguration. Although he did not support that particular President it was an assigned duty and he felt honored to do it.

Listening to the audio made me feel nauseous.

I worked next door to DCA (at IAD) for 24 years.

The airspace around DCA is very complex due numerous factors, like the FRZ (Flight Restricted Zone), P-56 (the airspace over the WH, Capitol Bldg, etc), and the numerous rotary wing aircraft operating in the close proximity to the airport.

The controller is overloaded with too much going on:

The controller is trying to get numerous departures out whilst there is several arrivals coming in. Thus, having the CRJ circle to RWY33. He is also handling numerous helicopters (PAT, BLACKJACK, MUSCLE). Lastly, it is dark.

Listening to him, I can picture the whole thing in my mind and I can hear in his voice that he is over-tasked. As Coloradohunter pointed out, the phraseology is not good. That is a sign that things are getting too busy, as the controller has to use abbreviated (Incorrect) phraseology to try and keep up.

Back in the day, flights departing DCA were limited to a distance of 1250 miles (or less). This was the "1250 Rule." This limited the level of traffic at DCA to a manageable level.

Sen John McCain did not like the fact that he had to drive all the way to Dulles to catch his flight home, while a lot of his colleagues went right over to DCA. Around 1999, McCain introduces legislation to relax the 1250 Rule. And with that, the 1250 Rule was relaxed and the airlines went all-in on DCA. Airlines cut back operations at IAD and went full tilt on service out of DCA.

At the end of the day, the helo pilot and the controller are to blame. The pilot more so than the controller, but, there is a lot things that contributed to this. In nearly 33 years working traffic, I never had an incident like this. This is a controllers worst nightmare.

I pray for that controller, as he will never get this out of his system and probably never work traffic again.

quote:

Originally posted by 95flhr:

quote:

Lobach previously worked as a White House social aide under President Joe Biden

This has no bearing on anything. hell, I spent 6 years stationed at the White House years ago, it’s an assignment like many others, and not a political job nor does it equate to a political affiliation, it’s just an assignment.

Did she maintain currency while in the White House? If not, how long did it take to get skills back?

I would ask this if the pilot were male or female.

quote:

Did she maintain currency while in the White House?

Sounds like finding out was the purpose of the flight. Presumably, there were two pilots at the controls.

I’ll finally add my two cents.

I learned to fly at Dulles so I know the DC airspace. I’ve flown it many times IRL and using MS Flight Simulator.

The airspace around DC was a rat race as far back as the 1960s when Rear Admiral Gallery so described it in a book, and there were far fewer aircraft flying then. IMO it’s too congested an area for the traffic load with the myriad airspace restrictions and tight flight corridors. That there was a helo flight corridor right through the approach/departure routes to DCA is madness.

And for a single tower controller? Gimme a fucking break.

As I was generally down low, my great fear was military helos. I’ve flown by Andrew’s AFB (not JBABA) and Davidson AAF many times and Quantico a few times and I can’t recall not seeing rotary wing aircraft in the air.

Bottom line: this crash was inevitable.

quote:

And for a single tower controller? Gimme a fucking break.

NTSB confirms there were 5 controllers in DCA tower

Appears to me that she was a smart, talented go getter and perfect role model/poster child, and maybe they fast tracked her too rapidly which may have lead to her tragic death. We lost a good one no matter what.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:

What I’m talking about is preventing the next incident.

Not gonna happen.
There's ALWAYS going to be a "next incident".
We can TRY to get it as close to "0" as possible, but obtaining "0" is never going to happen.

Look at P210's post right above this.
(And I'm not saying anything either way about ANY of the pilots involved)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...die%20in%20a%20crash.

IIRC, this was the 1990's version of "DEI".
The rumor way back then was "Push her through, she's a woman, and we want women on the front lines." Which resulted in the tragic end.

Maybe she was fast tracked and maybe too quickly even. What does that say about the instructor pilot? Was he not capable of the job?

We know the Blackhawk was not where it should have been. We don't know why, but it sounds like there were two people at the controls. There was a male voice on the radio with the ATC twice confirming seeing the CRJ and twice requesting "vis sep". Maybe the "black box" from the Blackhawk is able to shed some light on this.

Barring an intentional act, assigning portions of blame to individuals of the helicopter crew isn't going to solve or change anything. Responsibility goes up the chain of command. The people responsible for putting that crew there from boot camp to the crash.