Pilot of Black Hawk Was Biden White House Social Aide
Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach was involved in many activities in D.C. apart from practicing her pilot skills.
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John Leake Courageouse Discourse Feb 2 2025
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The identity of the pilot in command of the Black Hawk helicopter has been disclosed to the public. Rebbeca M. Lobach, 28, of Durham, North Carolina was a Company Executive Officer of the 12th Aviation Battalion, Division Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
Until recently, she also served as a “White House Military Social Aide, volunteering to support the President and First Lady at countless social events” (see full statement of her family below).
Recently she escorted Ralph Lauren in the ceremony to receive his Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Joe Biden.
Her profile suggests that she was a bright, attractive, and socially gifted young woman, which made her a desirable person for showcasing the military’s commitment to having women in military roles that were previously occupied exclusively by men.
The trouble with these social and political activities is that performing them doesn’t sharpen one’s piloting skills.
It’s going to be tough for the Army to explain why it was training a woman with only 500 hours of experience—supported by a crew of only three (instead of a safer crew of four)—while wearing night vision goggles on the tight approach path to a busy commercial airport while exceedingly the altitude ceiling by almost 2X. This situation strikes me as inherently risky with little margin for error.
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Army Black Hawk Was On Training Flight
Squadron primarily used for transporting VIPs around D.C. was apparently familiarizing new pilot with area. Jan 30 2025
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Last night, shortly before 9pm ET, an American Airlines flight carrying 64 people was on its final approach to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when it collided with an Army helicopter with three soldiers on board, about 400 feet off the ground, killing everyone on both aircraft.
The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk had departed from Fort Belvoir in Virginia with a flight path that cut directly across the flight path of Reagan National Airport
This final approach is probably the most carefully controlled in the world, as it it lies three miles south of the White House and the Capitol.
According to various media reports, military aircraft frequently train in the congested airspace around D.C. for “familiarization and continuity of government planning.”
Less than 30 seconds before the crash, an air traffic controller asked the helicopter, whose callsign was registered as PAT25, if he could see the arriving plane.
'PAT25 do you see a CRJ? PAT 25 pass behind the CRJ,' the air traffic controller said. A few seconds later, a fireball erupted in the night sky above Washington DC as the two aircraft collided.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth issued the following statement on X:
It seems that Blackhawks from the 12th Aviation Battalion out of Davison Army Airfield are primarily used for shuttling VIPs around the D.C. area. The following appears to be a helicopter from this battalion.
On the face of it, it strikes me as very imprudent to conduct training flights at night that cross the final approach to Reagan D.C. To me, the word “training” suggests a potential for making errors that an instructor is called upon to correct.
It also strikes me as very strange that Army Blackhawk helicopters operating in this airspace at night are not required to operate with bright external lights, especially when crossing the final approach to Reagan D.C.
Finally, though it’s nothing more than a vague intuition, it seems to me that there is something very strange about this disaster and the timing of it. I wonder if, for some reason, risk management of such training activities was impaired.
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Why Did the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) Fail?
Defense Secretary Hegseth should ask about the Blackhawk's transponder and if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS. Jan 30
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A major question that has arisen is why the AA aircrafts TCAS apparently didn’t detect the Blackhawk’s transponder. The AA aircraft was certainly equipped with TCAS, which interrogates the transponders of nearby aircraft.
It appears that the AA flight was executing a left turn to line up for the runway. In this position, visibility to the right would have been limited. The final approach to Reagan also requires a lot of concentration. The pilots were apparently completely unaware of the presence of the Blackhawk.
Another, related question is if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS. A retired Naval aviator friend just texted:
I have a friend that flew H60s [Navy iteration of the Blackhawk] who said TCAS had been on their "unfunded requests" list for years.
I hope that Defense Secretary Hegseth will ask about the Blackhawk’s transponder and if the Blackhawk was equipped with TCAS. I suspect that the answer to the latter question is no, it was not.
I suspect that the disaster is a perfect example of why Blackhawks—at least Blackhawks operating around DC—SHOULD be equipped with TCAS.
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