Black Hawk pilot Rebecca Lobach’s social media erased before name reveal sparks conspiracy theories

WASHINGTON, DC: It took three long days, but the US Army finally named the third pilot in the devastating mid-air collision that left 67 people dead near Washington, DC — but it seems it happened only after her social media was entirely scrubbed.

Captain Rebecca Lobach — a 28-year-old Army pilot from Durham, North Carolina — was at the controls of the Black Hawk helicopter when it collided with a PSA/American Airlines passenger jet on its final approach to Reagan National Airport Wednesday night, January 29.

The Army had initially withheld Lobach’s name at the family’s request, but they released a statement on Saturday confirming her identity. Her death, along with Staff Sgt Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Georgia, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Maryland, has shaken up many in military and aviation circles.

Was Rebecca Lobach digitally purged following the tragedy?

This wasn't just any crash - it was an explosive mid-air disaster that killed everyone on board both aircraft. All 64 passengers in the jet lost their lives.

The Black Hawk, which had taken off from Fort Belvoir in Virginia, was on a routine training mission for "continuity of government" when the tragedy struck over the Potomac River.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday, "A routine annual retraining of night flights on a standard corridor for a continuity of government mission. The military does dangerous things. It does routine things on a regular basis."

But here’s where things take a suspicious turn.

Lobach wasn’t just any Army pilot - she worked in the Biden White House. She served as a military social aide, and just last month she was spotted escorting designer Ralph Lauren through the White House when he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from tPresident Joe Biden.

But good luck trying to find her now, considering her entire social media presence appears to have been wiped.

It seems even her family members’ accounts were erased from the internet over the three days before Lobach's identity was released to the public.

Who was Capt Rebecca Lobach?

Despite the apparent digital purge, details about Lobach’s life are slowly coming to light. According to the Army, she had been serving as an aviation officer since 2019 and had earned several awards, including the Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon.

Her family described her as "a bright star in all our lives. She was kind, generous, brilliant, funny, ambitious and strong."

A native of Durham, North Carolina, Lobach’s military career began when she enlisted in the North Carolina Army National Guard in 2018 while still in college. She attended Sewanee: The University of the South, where she played basketball, before transferring to UNC-Chapel Hill, where she graduated with a biology degree in 2019 as a distinguished military graduate.

Her path to the military was quite impressive - she was part of the Simultaneous Membership Program, allowing her to be both a Reserve Officers’ Training Corps cadet and a National Guard member at the same time.

That said, there are plenty of unanswered questions swirling around last week's tragedy. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are still investigating the cause of the crash, CBS News reported.

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