Considered one of 3 troopers aboard Black Hawk chopper concerned in midair collision recognized as former White Home aide

Considered one of three troopers aboard an Military Black Hawk helicopter that was concerned in the lethal midair collision with an American Airways flight Wednesday close to Reagan Nationwide Airport outdoors Washington, D.C., was recognized Saturday by the Military as 28-year-old Capt. Rebecca Lobach, who had labored as a White Home aide within the Biden administration.

The Military stated Lobach had served as an aviation officer within the Military from July 2019 till January 2025. She had been awarded the Military Commendation Medal, Military Achievement Medal, Nationwide Protection Service Medal and Military Service Ribbon.

Her household in a press release launched by means of the Military described her as a “vibrant star in all our lives. She was form, beneficiant, sensible, humorous, bold and powerful.”

Lobach was a local of Durham, North Carolina, and enlisted within the North Carolina Military Nationwide Guard whereas in faculty in December 2018, a pal, 1st Lt. Samantha Brown, instructed CBS Information.

She attended Sewanee: The College of the South, the place she performed basketball, after which later the College of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the place she accomplished a level in biology in 2019 as a distinguished navy graduate, in line with Brown.

When she enlisted within the Nationwide Guard, she did in order a Simultaneous Membership Program cadet, a program which permits cadets to participate in each the Reserve Officers’ Coaching Corps and the Nationwide Guard on the similar time.

Lobach additionally served as a White Home social aide throughout the Biden administration, Brown stated. Simply final month, she escorted Ralph Lauren by means of the White Home when he was amongst these awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by former President Joe Biden.

The opposite two troopers aboard the Black Hawk helicopter have been recognized as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, of Nice Mills, Maryland, and  Workers. Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, who was the chopper’s crew chief.

The our bodies of two of the three troopers have to this point been recovered from the wreckage of the Blackhawk helicopter, a regulation enforcement supply aware of the restoration efforts confirmed to CBS Information Saturday.

The supply stated the our bodies – a person and a girl – had been recovered someday Friday.

The Black Hawk had taken off from close by Fort Belvoir in Virginia, and was conducting a routine coaching mission on the time of the collision that killed 67 folks, Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth disclosed.

“A routine annual retraining of night time flights on a typical hall for a continuity of presidency mission. The navy does harmful issues. It does routine issues frequently,” Hegseth stated Thursday.  “Tragically, final night time a mistake was made.”

The trigger is below investigation by the Nationwide Transportation Security Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.  

contributed to this report.