U.S. Army identified Mississippi officer as one of the pilots in fatal D.C. midair crash
Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Loyd Eaves was among the three pilots aboard the Black Hawk military helicopter in a midair collision with a commercial airliner from Wichita Wednesday night, according to U.S. Army officials.
Eaves, 39, was inside the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter performing a training mission with Staff Sgt. Ryan Austin O’Hara and Capt. Rebecca M. Lobach near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., according to a U.S. Army news release.
American Airlines flight 5342 was traveling from Wichita was approaching the airport when it collided into a military helicopter, killing more than 60 people. There were no survivors.
Army officials expressed their condolences in a news release to all those impacted by Eaves’ passing and said they are working with investigative agencies to determine the cause of the crash.
Airport officials made the first emergency call around 8:50 p.m. on Jan. 29. The passenger plane had 64 people on board.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a statement Thursday on X, formerly known as Twitter that the state is mourning Eaves’ passing.
Eaves served in the U.S. Navy from August 2007 to September 2017 and then became a UH-60 pilot for the Army. Eaves also served as a training instructor in the Army’s Bravo Company, 12th Aviation Battalion out of the Davison Army Airfield, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, according to the Clarion Ledger.
He earned several awards including three Army commendation medals, the Army Achievement Medal and the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal.
Eaves graduated from the Central Academy, a private school that closed in 2017, according to WCBI, a CBS news station in Columbus, Mississippi.
“I am sure by now all of you have heard the news of the tragedy that has occurred in D.C. My husband was one of the pilots in the Black Hawk,” Eaves’ wife, Carrie Eaves, said in a Facebook post. “We ask that you pray for our family and friends and for all the other families that are suffering today. We ask for peace while we grieve.”
Eaves is survived by his wife and two children.
This story was originally published February 2, 2025 at 3:18 PM.
