A Durham native was identified Saturday as the third crew member aboard the Army helicopter that collided with a commercial jet Wednesday night in the nation's capital.

Cpt. Rebecca M. Lobach, of Durham, N.C., served as an Army aviation officer since July 2019. Her awards include an Army commendation medal and an achievement medal.

In a statement released by the Army, her family said she was a distinguished military graduate in the ROTC at the University of North Carolina and was in the top 20% of cadets nationwide.

They said she had more than 450 hours of flight time, and earned “certification as a pilot-in-command after extensive testing by the most senior and experienced pilots in her battalion.”

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The family also said she served as a certified sexual harassment/assault response and prevention victim advocate and hoped to become a physician when she got out of the Army.

“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Rebecca. 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," the statement said.

Lobach was among the 67 killed in the midair crash over the Potomac River near Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

The Army on Friday identified the other two crew members aboard the UH-60 Black Hawk as Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara, 28, of Lilburn, Georgia, and Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves, 39, of Great Mills, Maryland, but withheld the name of the third soldier at the request of the family.

The identity of the third soldier became a source of online speculation after President Donald Trump publicly blamed the helicopter for flying too high. And he issued a lengthy critique about an FAA diversity hiring initiative — particularly regarding air traffic controllers — saying such policies eroded flight safety.

No evidence has emerged that rules seeking to diversify the FAA played any role in the collision.

The Black Hawk was on a training mission about 9 p.m. Wednesday when it crashed with an American Airlines jet with 64 aboard. 

The search for remains in the Potomac continued Saturday.