Two days after the horrific mi-air collision between American Airlines jet and a US Army Black Hawk helicopter, the US Army issued a statement on their website regarding the tragedy. They wrote that the United States Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter crashed “while performing a training mission near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.”
Rumors were that the training mission of the Black Hawk helicopter was in fact a practice plan including the evacuation of the White House.
Eventually, defense sources verified the drill’s nature to CBS News.
The helicopter involved in the crash was retraining the president’s emergency evacuation route, which is a part of a contingency plan for the continuity of government.
Continuity of Government mission (COG), as explained by the government’s website, is the plan in place to keep the government up and running in case of a major catastrophe or attack on Washington, D.C. As part of the national continuity plan, every federal agency must have a strategy in place for mass evacuation and relocation from the national capital region.
One of the five main components of this mission is protecting important persons and infrastructure.
The U.S. Army has identified one of the military members involved in the crash as Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, from Lilburn, Georgia.
The other pilot, whose body has not yet been recovered, therefore is duty status-whereabouts unknown (DUSTWUN), is identified as Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland.
Initially, the identity of the third pilot, who was known to be female, was withheld as per the family’s request.
However, the US Army later identified her as Captain Rebecca M Lobach from Durham, North Carolina.
During Biden’s administration, Captain Lobach served as a White House military social aide.
Captain Lobach’s family paid tribute to her through a statement released by the US Army.
“She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals,” they wrote, adding “Rebecca was a warrior and would not hesitate to defend her country in battle.”
Captain Lobach started her service in the army in July 2019 and had around 500 hours of flying time.
Assigned to the 12th Aviation Battalion in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, her awards included the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon, according to the Army.
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