The female Army Blackhawk pilot involved in the Washington, DC, plane crash failed to comply with her flight instructor's warning and change direction just 15 seconds before the tragic accident that killed 67 people, according to a new report.
On the night of January 29, Army Black Hawk pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach was conducting her annual flight evaluation with co-pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, who was acting as her flight instructor. Three months down the line, new details reported by The New York Times shows that the pilot made several mistakes that contributed to one of the deadliest disasters in the aviation history of the United States.
Black Hawk Pilot's Mistake Caused Collision
Besides the mistakes, Lobach was also flying her Black Hawk too high. Officials also found that the pilots had "stepped on" some of the air traffic controller's instructions — meaning they accidentally interrupted him by pressing the radio button and likely missed key information.
According to the report, Lobach's flying abilities were being tested during the evaluation flight when the crew was alerted about an aircraft flying close to them.
A crucial moment came around 8:46 p.m., when Eaves asked for and was granted permission for the helicopter pilots to rely on their own visual abilities instead of instructions from air traffic control to navigate around other aircraft. This is a common practice to speed up operations, but it comes with the risk of human error.
Investigators believe that during this time, Eaves and Lobach failed to follow the information that an American Airlines plane was "circling" because one of them had the microphone button pressed, blocking the message from being heard.
Just 15 seconds before the crash, the air traffic controller asked Lobach and the co-pilot if they had spotted American Airlines Flight 5342, which was approaching Runway 33 where the helicopter was heading.
"PAT two-five, do you have the CRJ in sight?" he asked, using the abbreviation for the aircraft model of Flight 5342. That was the final communication between the plane and the air traffic controller.
Black Hawk Was at Fault
The report also says that technology on the Black Hawk that could have helped air traffic control better monitor the helicopter was found to have been turned off that day, which is standard procedure for real missions.
However, this was a training mission for Lobach's annual flight evaluation, simulating a scenario where top congressional officials needed to be flown out of a Capitol under attack.
The report said: "The Black Hawk was 15 seconds away from crossing paths with the jet. Warrant Officer Eaves then turned his attention to Captain Lobach. He told her he believed "that air traffic control wanted them to turn left, toward the east river bank."
"If she had turned left, it 'would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342," the report added.
Instead, 67 lives were lost — everyone aboard both the plane and the helicopter.
Lobach, originally from Durham, North Carolina, was an aviation officer in the Army with about 500 hours of flying experience. She had also served as a White House military social aide during the Biden administration.
According to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations, a key rule in the industry is that pilots must be notified if two aircraft are on a collision path.
Experts concluded that this did not happen that night and that "immediate intervention was necessary" to avoid the tragic incident that claimed 67 lives.
