A UNC alumna and Triangle native was revealed Saturday afternoon to be among the casualties in the fatal crash between a U.S. Army helicopter and passenger jet crash on Wednesday, Jan. 29.

With permission from her family, the U.S. Army identified Capt. Rebecca Lobach as one of three soldiers who were performing a training mission near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport when the helicopter collided with a landing American Airlines flight. Lobach, who was from Durham, graduated from UNC in 2019 after going through the school’s ROTC program and was in the top 20% of cadets in the country.

The Army’s statement said Lobach had served as an aviation officer since shortly after her college graduation, assigned to the 12th Aviation Battlion in Fort Belvoir, Va. While she had no deployments, she earned the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon during her five and a half years of service.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca,” Lobach’s family said in a release 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.”

Shortly after Lobach was identified, UNC shared a note from Chancellor Lee Roberts extending the university community’s thoughts and prayers to her family and those affected by her loss.

“It is always painful to lose a member of the Carolina community, especially a young, accomplished and promising alumna such as Captain Lobach,” wrote Roberts. “On behalf of the University, we extend our sincere condolences and our gratitude for her brave services.”

The other two military members in the helicopter, 28-year-old Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara and 39-year-old Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, were identified by the U.S. Army on Friday. National Transportation Safety Board investigators are still evaluated the exact sequence that led to the mid-air crash around 9 p.m. on Wednesday — but officials have declared it as fatal to all involved, with 67 people dead in total.

To read the full statement from Rebecca Lobach family’s on her death, click here.

 

Featured photo via UNC ROTC on Facebook.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.

 

Related Stories
‹
UNC Historian, Author Earns 2025 Pulitzer for Book on Native American Communities
History professor and author Kathleen DuVal — who has taught and researched at the Chapel Hill campus since 2003 — saw her latest book, “Native Nations: A Millennium in North America," named a winner of the Pulitzer Prize for history.
'1619 Project' Writer To Join UNC Journalism School Faculty
Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times investigative journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones will join the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s journalism school in July as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism. Hannah-Jones, who covers civil rights and racial justice for The New York Times Magazine, won the 2020 Pulitzer for commentary for an essay she wrote […]
Play-by-Play Class in UNC's Journalism School Wraps Up Debut Semester
Matt Krause is the longtime voice of UNC women's basketball on 97.9 The Hill. This past spring, he shared his knowledge by teaching a class.
'It's All In How You Use The Tool': The Academic Use of AI at UNC
Fear about job prospects was the main finding in a survey of 43 undergraduate students at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media about their feelings and use of generative AI.
With No End in Sight to Their Deployment, National Guard Troops Roam Washington
Written by GARY FIELDS WASHINGTON (AP) — The cherry blossoms draw more than a million visitors to Washington’s Tidal Basin annually. This year was no different, except some strolling the area between the Lincoln Memorial and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial were dressed in camouflage — and armed. Eight months after President Donald Trump declared a crime emergency in […]
Senate Republicans Vote Down Legislation to Halt Iran War in Congress’ First Vote on the Conflict
Senate Republicans voted down an effort Wednesday to halt President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, demonstrating early support for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear U.S. exit strategy.
Trump Says Democrats’ Message to Military Is ‘Seditious Behavior’ Punishable by Death
President Donald Trump accused six lawmakers who called on U.S. military members to defy “illegal orders" of sedition on Thursday.
Republicans in Congress Are Eager for Trump To Expand His Use of the Military on US Soil
President Donald Trump is using the military as an all-powerful tool for his policy goals. Republicans lawmakers are largely cheering him on.
With 'Native Nations,' UNC's Kathleen DuVal Shifts Narratives, Wins Pulitzer
UNC historian Kathleen DuVal has won the Pulitzer Prize for her book "Native Nations: A Millennium in North America."
UNC Grad Rebecca Lobach Named as Third Soldier in Airliner, Army Helicopter Crash
The U.S. Army revealed UNC alumna and Triangle native Rebecca Lobach as one of the soliders in the helicopter and plane crash on Jan. 29.
›