By Gordon Lubold

WASHINGTON -- The Army released the name of the third crew member who died Wednesday when the helicopter she was co-piloting collided with an American Airlines jet near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, N.C., who served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019, was identified Saturday by the Army after her name wasn't disclosed a day earlier along with two other crew members killed in the accident -- Chief Warrant 2 Officer Andrew Lloyd Eaves and Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O'Hara.

Lobach's name was withheld at the request of her family, which later agreed to let the Army disclose it, officials said. There has been no explanation for the delay. A statement by the family released by the Army didn't address the issue, though it asked for privacy "as we grieve this devastating loss."

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. President Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have suggested without evidence that diversity policies may have contributed to the deadly accident, which killed all 64 passengers and crew on the jet and the three in the military helicopter.

Lobach was completing a training flight, Army officials have said. Eaves was the instructor pilot in the Black Hawk and O'Hara was the crew chief.

"Rebecca was a warrior and wouldn't hesitate to defend her country in battle," the family's statement said. "Her life was short, but she made a difference in the lives of all who knew her."

Lobach was commissioned as an Army officer after graduating from the University of North Carolina, where she was in the Reserve Officers' Training Corps program and in the top 20% of cadets nationwide, the statement said. She had more than 450 hours of flight time, and earned "certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion."

"Rebecca was brilliant and fearless, a talented pilot and a PT stud," said Davis Winkie, a journalist who said he met Lobach while both were ROTC cadets at North Carolina, in a post on X on Saturday. PT refers to physical training.

She served in the Biden White House as a social aide, as well as a certified sexual harassment and assault response advocate.

Trump suggested without evidence that diversity, equity and inclusion personnel policies he has vowed to erase from the federal government may have contributed to the accident. "We have to have our smartest people," he said referring to air-traffic controllers at the White House Jan. 30.

Hegseth also made unsubstantiated suggestions at the same event at the White House that such policies might have played a role in the collision.

"Color blind and merit based, the best leaders possible, whether it is flying Black Hawks, flying airplanes, leading platoons or in government, the era of DEI is gone at the Defense Department and we need the best and the brightest, whether it is in our air-traffic control, or whether it is in our generals, or whether it is throughout our government," Hegseth said.

Her family said she hoped to become a physician after the Army. "No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals," the statement said.

Write to Gordon Lubold at gordon.lubold@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 01, 2025 19:57 ET (00:57 GMT)

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