Black Hawk pilot failed to heed instructor in DC crash

Sunday, April 27, 2025

The pilot of the military Black Hawk helicopter that collided with a passenger airplane over Washington, D.C., in January ignored instructions to change course seconds before the crash, according to a new report. The report, published by the New York Times on Sunday, detailed the Black Hawk's exchanges with air traffic controllers in the lead-up to the disaster, which left 67 people dead. According to the report, the Black Hawk pilot, Capt. Rebecca Lobach, was conducting her annual flight evaluation and her co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, was serving as her flight instructor.

Posted by Bluewaffles at 02:37 PM | 7 COMMENTS | permalink

And I was correct on this one ...

Comments

Who can forget she was a Biden "Spokesperson ... "

#1 | Posted by Bluewaffles at 2025-04-27 02:43 PM

"The Black Hawk was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the jet. Warrant Officer Eaves then turned his attention to Captain Lobach. He told her he believed that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank," the Times wrote.

I thought the story was they were supposed to fly below 2000' and they were at 3800'.

This is separate from maintain visual separation.

And a more tractable failure by both ATC and the pilot.

they were supposed to fly below 2000'

200' actually. With literally zero margin for error.

200' actually. With literally zero margin for error.
#3 | POSTED BY REDIAL

Where they were lat/long, was incorrect it went to the surface there.

And a more tractable failure by both ATC and the pilot.
Eaves was not the PIC. She just didn't "obey" the PIC.
While ATC could have given a "clock hand" heading to traffic, this doesn't always happen in high density.

I don't blame the ATC, or Pilot/PIC, I blame the FAA for having routes with such little tolerance.

They knew this was a problem, its happened before, though not as tragic.

@#1 ... Who can forget she was a Biden "Spokesperson ... " ...

Fact Check: White House staffer incorrectly identified as Black Hawk crewmember (February 7, 2025)
www.reuters.com

... A press assistant who worked in the administration of former U.S. President Joe Biden has been falsely identified online as Rebecca Lobach, one of three U.S. soldiers who died when their Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines passenger jet over Washington on January 29. ...

Some Facebook users in the days after the incident said they identified the helicopter's lone female crewmember in a group photo with Biden.

But the person circled in the photo is not Captain Rebecca Lobach, who the U.S. Army identified on February 1 as one of the three Blackhawk crewmembers. Lobach died alongside her colleagues, Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O'Hara, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves.

In early January, former White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre posted an uncropped version of the photo to X.

Smith, speaking to Reuters via email, said: "I did take the photo. The woman in the photo is not Rebecca Lobach. That is Chloe Kellison, a press wrangler in the Biden-Harris administration." ...

Friends say Army captain killed in midair collision was a brilliant and fearless' patriot (February 2, 2025)
apnews.com

... A U.S. Army captain who died in Wednesday's midair collision of a Black Hawk helicopter and an American Airlines jet was "brilliant and fearless" and "meticulous in everything she did," friends and fellow soldiers said.

Lobach, of Durham, North Carolina, had served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019, earning an Army commendation medal and an achievement medal after graduating from the University of North Carolina as a distinguished military graduate in the top 20% of ROTC cadets nationwide, her family said. ...