Black Hawk pilot Rachel Lobach ignored instructions before mid-air collision over Potomac River
By Hayden Cunningham | The Post Millennial
The pilot of the Black Hawk military helicopter that collided with a passenger airplane over Washington, DC, in January ignored instructions to change course moments before the crash took place, according to a report by the New York Times.
Captain Rebecca Lobach, piloting the Black Hawk, was undergoing an annual flight evaluation at the time, while her co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, served as the flight instructor. Air traffic controllers had warned the helicopter crew about a nearby passenger airliner, and both Lobach and Eaves acknowledged the warning, opting to proceed under "visual separation.” This is a method where pilots are allowed to continue flying in the area by using their own observations rat...