Summary
Army Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach, a highly accomplished pilot and top 20% ROTC cadet, was among 67 killed when her Black Hawk helicopter collided with an American Airlines jet near Washington, D.C.
Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth blamed “DEI” for the crash despite no official cause being determined.
Lobach had 450+ flight hours and numerous military honors.
Was another aircraft in the area? (possibly, it’s even more reason to be angry that a busy airport like this with very specific guidelines is understaffed) I haven’t looked at the radar at the time. If this was the initial error that led to the crash, the followup error possibly was that the single ATC person at the time was not able to go back and confirm that the helicopter was on a path that showed them understanding the correct plane and action to take. One or more assumptions led to the crash.
Yes there was another aircraft. Current speculation is that the helicopter pilot gave visual confirmation but was looking at the wrong plane. And further, because of the area they were in, the lights were blending in with the lights from the buildings on the ground in the background. Which would be an explanation as to why the correct plane was not identified. If that’s all true, and Trump is going to continue with this DEI shit, then the next argument will probably be that a male pilot would have had better vision to identify the correct plane despite the lights blending in with the city lights below. Because eyes.