Plane collides with Blackhawk helicopter Washington DC

[putnam6]

FWIW this doesn't sound like a DEI hiring issue at all. Just a tragic mistake in an incredibly busy air corridor 

It all depends on the number of pilots admitted, passed through training, and thier assignments. Additionally, if the standards were changed which doesn't sound like the case here, she would become an aviation officer in 2019







BNO News Live

@BNODesk
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23m
The second pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter involved in the D.C. mid-air collision has been identified as Rebecca Lobach, 28. Rebecca also served as a military social aide at the White House, helping the president host events and ceremonies.
 

• Army Black Hawk pilot killed in mid-air collision remembered as a ‘volunteer patriot’
  

Army Capt. Rebecca Lobach, 28, was in the top 20% of all ROTC cadets nationwide in her class and then served as an aviation officer from 2019 to 2025. She was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion.
 “She was passionate about leadership, passionate about mentorship, and passionate about being a master of her skill craft,” Freas told Task & Purpose on Saturday. “Everything she did, she put 100% of her heart and effort into. No task was too big or too little for her to handle for her soldiers and the people that she mentored and loved.”
On Wednesday, Lobach, 28, was killed when a Black Hawk helicopter she was aboard and American Airlines Flight 5342 collided near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, located just outside of Washington. D.C. A total of 67 people died in the incident, including all the passengers and crew aboard the airliner and two other soldiers on the helicopter: Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39; and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28.

 
Lobach served as an aviation officer from January 2019 to January 2025, according to the Army. She was assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion at  Ft Belvoir, Virginia, and her awards include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
Originally from Durham, North Carolina, Lobach enlisted in the North Carolina National Guard as a Simultaneous Membership Program cadet in December 2018 and was commissioned the following summer through her college ROTC program, said her friend 1st Lt. Samantha Brown