GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) -- The Kent County Sheriff's Department on Thursday honored people who helped respond to a summertime tragedy and, along the way, formed an unexpected connection.
In August, New Mexico residents Bryan and Delia Bowker drove across the country to buy an ultralight aircraft in Lowell.
Bryan was test-flying the plane, when it crashed and he was killed.
After the accident, victim advocates and a Lowell couple went above and beyond to help Bowker's widow.
"For myself, I don't need recognition," said Kent County Sheriff's Department victim advocate Jay Groendyke. "I'm doing this because it's the right thing to do."
"We were summoned to the scene of the ultralight crash," said fellow victim advocate Charles Roetman. "We were directed by Lowell Rescue to the widow, who had apparently witnessed her husband's crash. The problem we were going to have was communication, because she was Filipino."
At the same time the victim advocates were trying to console Delia, Ron and Mavee Blain were passing the scene and stopped to see if they could help.
"He said, 'She looks like she could be Filipino or something, so talk to her and maybe you can comfort her,'" Mavee says of her and her husband's arrival on the scene. "So, I just put my arm around her shoulder and I said, 'Are you from the Philippines?' She said yes. I said, 'Me, too. Where are you from in the Philippines?'
"And she said, 'I'm from Cebu.' I said, 'Me, too. I am also from Cebu.' So, we have the same dialect. From that time on, I started speaking to her in our dialect. She begged me to stay with her the whole time. So I did."
Roetman said that "took a tremendous amount of stress away from Jay and I, because while we know what we're doing and are trained well by the department, the communication gap was going to be a serious problem here."
Delia was scared and far from home, Mavee said.
"She said, 'I'm from New Mexico, I don't know anybody here.' I said, 'Well, I can stay with you for however long it takes.'"
The Blains invited Delia to stay with them, which she did for the three days until arrangements could be made to bring her husband's body home.
"We were more than happy to help her, especially [since] no one else could help her," Mavee Blain said. "I know it was a miracle, and I know God wanted us to be there."
- Source: http://lowell.wzzm13.com
NTSB Identification: CEN14LA45414
CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Sunday, August 24, 2014 in Lowell, MI
Aircraft: RANS S17, registration: None
Injuries: 1 Fatal.
This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators may not have traveled in support of this investigation and used data provided by various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.
On August 24, 2014, about 1130 eastern daylight time, an unregistered Rans S17 airplane, impacted trees and terrain during a takeoff at the Lowell City Airport (24C), near Lowell, Michigan. The private pilot, the sole occupant on board, was fatally injured. The airplane sustained substantial damage. The unregistered airplane was operated by the pilot under the provisions of 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91 as a personal flight. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the flight, and no flight plan had been filed. The local flight was originating from 24C at the time of the accident.
At 1053, the recorded weather at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport, near Grand Rapids, Michigan, was: Wind 080 degrees at 10 knots, visibility 5 statute miles, present weather mist: sky condition overcast clouds at 1,100 feet; temperature 22 degrees C; dew point 20 degrees C; altimeter 30.10 inches of mercury.
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