
The pilots of an American Airlines passenger jet tried to gain altitude seconds before colliding with an Army helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, DC on Jan. 29.
NTSB data shows the American Airlines pilots tried desperately to pull the jet’s nose up seconds before colliding with an Amry Black Hawk helicopter. A female co-pilot trainee was at the controls of the chopper.
The jet’s flight data recorder showed a slight change in pitch, according to an NTSB official.

“At one point very close to the impact, there was a slight change in pitch, an increase in pitch,” National Transportation Safety Board member Todd Inman said at a Saturday evening news conference.
“The slight increase in pitch could mean the pilots tried to pull the plane up at the last second after noticing the helicopter fast approaching, Mary Schiavo, former inspector general at the Department of Transportation, told CNN Saturday.
“That tells us that they did not see the helicopter until just, you know, a second at impact,” Schiavo said. “But they had that one second to try to pull up.”
All 64 people on the plane and 3 soldiers in the military aircraft were killed.
At the time of the collision, the helicopter pilots were training for a scenario of an emergency evacuation of the President and other senior government officials.
Jonathan Koziol, an Army Chief of Staff, explained why Army Black Hawk helicopters fly so close to Reagan National Airport.
To carry out such an evacuation, pilots “do need to be able to understand the environment, the air traffic, the routes, to ensure the safe travel of our senior leaders throughout our government,” Koziol said.
However, Black Hawk pilots are not allowed to fly higher than 200 feet to avoid collisions with commercial jets landing at the airport.
The helicopter was flying far above 200 feet and about a half mile off course at the time of the midair collision.
Within hours of the midair collision, President Trump posted on his Truth Social app:
On January 31, Trump posted:

In a rare press conference by a sitting president at the White House, Donald Trump told reporters that the helicopter was flying above the allowed altitude.
Brad Bowman, a former Black Hawk pilot, told CNN that when flying past Reagan Airport, the helicopters drop down to their lowest altitude to avoid collisions with aircraft.
“Everyone has to be on their game and follow instruction exactly,” Bowman added.
Airline pilots have complained of near misses with helicopters at Reagan National Airport in the past.
Just recently a pilot aborted his landing at Reagan to avoid a collision with a Black Hawk helicopter that flew in the path of the plane.
But, Trump sparked outrage when he blamed the crash on the Biden administration’s DEI policies.
Did y’all see that atrocious Donald Trump news conference blaming DEI for the DC helicopter-plane crash? Oh, I am SO READY to #BringTheFunk at 6 pm EST on #RolandMartinUnfiltered. Buckle up. I’m gonna be on ????. Watch at https://t.co/WHZfJxEyLH. Or the @blkstarnetwork app. pic.twitter.com/fVZ7e4KVxV
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) January 30, 2025
On Saturday, the Pentagon identified Captain Rebecca Lobach as the co-pilot who was at the controls of the helicopter.
The other soldiers on the helicopter were identified as the instructor pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Eaves, 39, and Staff Sergeant Ryan O’Hara, 28.
Lobach was named days after her family made an unusual request to withhold her identity from the public.
Her family said she had over 450 hours of flight time and had earned certification as a pilot-in-command.
BREAKING: Army has now identified the female pilot of the Black Hawk helicopter that collided with American Airlines flight as Captain Rebecca M. Lobach from Durham, North Carolina. pic.twitter.com/BzOf04hL2I
— TaraBull (@TaraBull808) February 1, 2025
Lobach also worked as a White House aide under the Biden administration. Last month she escorted designer Ralph Lauren through the White House as he accepted the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca,” the family said in a statement issued through the U.S. Army.
“She was a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong. No one dreamed bigger or worked harder to achieve her goals.”