The pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the American Airlines passenger airplane did not comply with directions to change course seconds before the fatal incident, a bombshell new report has revealed.
On the night of January 29, Army Black Hawk pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach was conducting an annual flight evaluation with her co-pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, who was serving as her flight instructor.
Three months on, new details published by The New York Times revealed that the pilot made more than one mistake leading to one of the worst catastrophes in aviation history.
Not only was Lobach flying her Black Hawk too high, but in the final moments before the impact, she failed to take advice and instruction from her co-pilot to switch course.
Lobach’s piloting skills were being tested during the evaluation on the fateful night, before the crew were informed that an aircraft was nearby, according to the report.
Just 15 seconds before colliding with the commercial airplane, air traffic control told Lobach and Eaves to turn left, but she did not do so.
Seconds before impact, co-pilot Eaves then turned to Lobach in the cockpit and told her that air traffic control wanted her to turn left. She still did not do so.
Investigators may never know why Lobach did not change course that day.
The pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with the American Airlines passenger airplane did not comply with directions to change course seconds before the fatal incident. (Pictured: Emergency crews rush to the scene after the crash)
On the night of January 29, Army Black Hawk pilot Capt. Rebecca Lobach (pictured on January 4, 2025) was conducting an annual flight evaluation with her co-pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, who was serving as her flight instructor
Both Lobach and Eaves had first acknowledged the message that an aircraft was nearby, and spotted the plane themselves before requesting to fly by ‘visual separation.’
This is a practice that allows aircraft to avoid collisions based on their own observations instead of following the air traffic controller’s instructions.
‘The request to fly under those rules is granted routinely in airspace overseen by controllers. Most of the time, visual separation is executed without note.
‘But when mishandled, it can also create a deadly risk — one that aviation experts have warned about for years,’ aviation experts told the outlet.
The report stated: ‘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,’ it added.
Instead, 67 people – everyone aboard the plane and helicopter – perished.
Lobach, from Durham, North Carolina, was an aviation officer in the Army and had racked up around 500 hours of flying time. She also served as a White House military social aide during the Biden administration.
A critical rule in the industry is that if two aircraft are on a collision course pilots have to be advised if they are likely to merge, according to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) regulations.
Experts found that did not happen that night and that ‘immediate intervention was needed’ to prevent the horrible tragedy that left 67 dead.
‘Direct, immediate intervention was needed that night. Instead of seeing and avoiding Flight 5342, Captain Lobach continued flying straight at it,’ the report read.
Though it remains unclear why Lobach defied orders, Aviation experts predict she may have been ‘blindsided’ that the American Airlines flight was ‘circling’ Runway 33 that night.
Investigators now believe the Black Hawk crew did not hear the word ‘circling’ because they might have been pressing the microphone key to talk at the same time the crucial term came through, according to the report.
‘If the key is depressed, the pilot can speak but not hear incoming communications,’ it detailed.
There is also no indication that Lobach suffered a medical emergency at the time of the crash, and didn’t have pre existing health issues, her loved ones and people close to the investigation told the outlet.
In February it was revealed that the helicopter crew may have had inaccurate altitude readings in the moments before the crash, investigators said.
NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said the recording from the Black Hawk suggested an incomplete radio transmission may have left them without understanding how it should shift position to avoid the aircraft.
With just 15 seconds before colliding with the airplane, air traffic control told Lobach and Eaves (pictured) to turn left, but instead, she flew directly into the jet
Though it remains unclear why Lobach defied orders, Aviation experts predict she might have been ‘blindsided’ that the American Airlines flight was ‘circling’ Runway 33 that night
‘That transmission was interrupted – it was stepped on,’ she said, leaving them unable to hear the words ‘pass behind the’ because the helicopter’s microphone key was pressed at the same moment.
‘At 8:47:42 – or 17 seconds before impact – a radio transmission from the tower was audible on both CVRs directing the Black Hawk to pass behind the CRJ,’ Homendy told reporters.
‘CVR data from the Black Hawk indicated that the portion of the transmission that stated ‘pass behind the’ may not have been received by the Black Hawk crew.’
Homendy said the helicopter was on a ‘check’ flight that night where the pilot was undergoing an annual test and a test on using night vision goggles.
Investigators believe the crew was wearing night vision goggles throughout the flight and that there was nothing to suggest that the crew had removed them.
Just before that discovery, it was revealed that vital tracking technology inside the helicopter was turned off for ‘no compelling reason’ when it collided.
When the chopper went down, the Black Hawk’s Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast was disabled – a system which shares an aircraft’s position, altitude and speed, Sen. Ted Cruz previously told The New York Times.
Investigators now believe the Black Hawk crew did not hear the word ‘circling’ because they might have been pressing the microphone key to talk at the same time the crucial term came through, according to the report. (Pictured: Captain Lobach)
The technology also includes a display that shows pilots the location of other aircraft both in the sky or on a runway, and allows air traffic controllers to not just rely on radar tracking – which could have a delay of a few seconds.
The American Airlines jet, which was flying from Wichita, Kansas, and preparing to land at the time of the crash, was piloted by 34-year-old Jonathan Campos, whose relatives said had dreamed of flying since he was three.
The passenger plane recorded its altitude at 313 feet two seconds before collision.
A few minutes before the twin-engine jet was to land, air traffic controllers asked if it could use a shorter runway. The pilots agreed, and flight-tracking sites show the plane adjusted its approach.
The jet’s passengers ranged from a group of hunters to students and parents from northern Virginia schools to members of the Skating Club of Boston.
They were returning from a development camp for elite junior skaters that followed the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Wichita.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .