On January 29, a Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines plane over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan National Airport, killing everyone on both aircraft.
According to the report, the Black Hawk pilot, Capt. Rebecca Lobach was conducting her annual flight evaluation, with Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves serving as her flight instructor. When her co-pilot instructed her to turn left, she failed to do so.
The Story
As we have heard, numerous mistakes were made; however, new information suggests that Lobach did not heed her co-pilot’s instructions to turn left. The New York Times said she ignored multiple warnings.
When air traffic controllers informed the Black Hawk that an airliner was nearby, Lobach and Eaves acknowledged the message and requested to maintain visual separation. It meant they could use their own observations instead of following instructions from air traffic control. Permission was granted as is typical.
“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,” the Times wrote.
“Turning left would have opened up more space between the helicopter and Flight 5342, which was heading for Runway 33 at an altitude of roughly 300 feet. She did not turn left,” the report said.
There were numerous errors.
Not only was the Black Hawk flying too high, but in the final seconds before the crash, its pilot failed to heed a directive from her co-pilot, an Army flight instructor, to change course. Some of the controller’s instructions were lost when the pilot cut out to speak. Who knows what she heard?
The technology on the Black Hawk that would have allowed controllers to track the helicopter more effectively was turned off. That isn’t really an error – it’s allowed.
The controller also could have done more.
Though he had delegated the prime responsibility for evading other air traffic to the Black Hawk crew under visual separation, he continued to monitor the helicopter, as his job required. Yet he did not issue clear, urgent instructions to the Black Hawk to avert the crash, aviation experts say.
Lobach had 500 hours as a helicopter pilot. She was also a White House military social aide in the Biden administration.
The third member of the flight crew, along with Lobach and Eaves, was Staff Sgt. Ryan O’Hara.
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