Shipwrecked On Copterwreck
Shipwreckedcrew has some interesting takes—including actual information—on the Blackhawk Down episode over the Potomac. I have nothing much to add, so I won’t add much, but I thought readers would want to see this:
Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew
Capt. Rebecca Lobach.
ROTC at UNC Chapel Hill.
28 so figure 6 years since graduation.
Two years of flight school
So only 4 years flying after getting wings.
She was PIC during flight that killed 67.
She makes Captain in 4 years -- during which time she was 2x Platoon Leader and 1x Company XO.
450 hours of flight time -- but others here have noted that a helo pilot comes out of flight school with about 200 hours and those count towards total. So only 250 hours after flight school?? 4 years?
Noted in the statement the family put out, she was a "certified" "SHARP" counselor -- that stands for "Sexual Harrassment/Assault Response and Prevention Program." Has no relationship to flight proficiency.
She was also a White House Social Aid -- a voluntary program where she attended White House functions in full dress uniform as an Army Aviation representative. Again, has no relationship to flight proficiency.
Her family scrubbed her social media, but some social media of friends seems to confirm she was a member of the LGBTQ community.
She was on an "ANNUAL" proficiency check ride for a night time flight down the Potomac.
Was this her FIRST nighttime "annual" checkride?
Someone with a Army Aviation background please say this is "normal."
Because it doesn't look very normal to me.
2:06 PM · Feb 2, 2025
I take that to mean that Lobach was promoted fast but without a lot of actual experience as a helo pilot. Instead, she spent a fair amount of time on matters unrelated to proficiency as a pilot. Ah, the next tweet makes that clear:
Shipwreckedcrew @shipwreckedcrew
This has nothing to do with her being gay or female.
It has to do with whether she was being advanced at a rate not justified by her experience.
And was the fact that she was gay and female part of the considerations to advancing her in the Biden DOD?
Route 4 that she was flying is supposed to hug the eastern shoreline of the river.
She was not hugging the eastern shoreline. In the last few moments she was drifting into the middle of the river.
3:19 PM · Feb 2, 2025
Regarding the flight path not flying the prescribed Route 4, my recollection is that in the first moments after the news broke there were reports that there had been an “urgent” to here order to return to base ASAP due to “erratic” flight—presumably changes of direction, altitude—that didn’t conform to the flight route she was on. That’s my recollection. The blackbox should tell the story. But Shipwreckedcrew’s information is in agreement with the “erratic” part— we know Lobach was at the wrong altitude and now we learn that she was outside the required flight path. Presumably that means an accident about to happen.
As Elon tweeted, er Xed, people die from DEI.
Anyone think odds are public will not obtain a true transcript of the black box
I still have my theory no error on the part of ground control
Pilot error - my theory co-pilot Eaves was at the communications
co-pilot Lobach was flying 'on the stick'
sometimes the simplest explanation is the explanation
possible Rebecca Lobach went right due to lack of training and experience
When two planes or boats are heading directly towards each other, general rule both pilots should alter their course to the right (starboard) to avoid a collision. If BOTH crafts heading directly at each other turn right, they separate.
Lobach may have thought CRJ was turning right (following the general avoidance rule), lacking situational awareness of CRJ landing runway 33, ability (or lack of) CRJ to turn abruptly, and possibly due to fear, reacted incorrectly
CRJ could not turn right they were turning left to landing - with CRJ turning left If Lobach turned right, By going right, the helicopter would have (and apparently did ) gone straight into the plane