This video showed up early this morning, and I thought I'd pass it along since it involves recovery of a crashed aircraft and the pilot's remains. 

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In this video, we're sharing the recovery of a tragic airplane crash that took the life of Wayne Wirt. We have The Wirt Family in our thoughts and prayers as we mourn the loss of this amazing Husband, Father, and Grandfather.

 

Fair Skies and Following Winds as you head West, Mr. Wirt.

And all will turn
To silver glass
A light on the water
Grey ships pass
Into the West

When I first came across the videos of HeavyD (David) Sparks, I was somewhat put off by the first few of them because of their "shenanigans", and thought they were simply thrill seekers.  I've since come to realize that he actually has a heart of gold, as he and his team most often come to the aid of those in desperate need of help.

This video in particular is a prime example of the team's generous spirit of both their time and money. Of particular note is his dedication to the environment, wishing to keep it as pristine as possible.

This was very moving for me Fr. Bill.  During my Air Force career I've seen a couple of crash sites.

At Johnson Air Force base in Japan I was watching a B-57 make low lass when all of a sudden it flipped over on it's back and crashed onto the runway upside down.

It brought back one horrible memory.

When I was stationed at Selfridge Air Force Base near Detroit early in my career one night about 2 or 3 AM the lights went on in the barracks.  They called for a half dozen volunteers for an emergency situation.  I volunteered and they drove us to Detroit where a British Vulcan bomber crashed in neighborhood.  It had been on it's way to Offut Air Force Base in Nebraska.

When we arrived at the scene it was all lit up with floodlights.  They gave us cardboard boxes and told us to wander through the wreckage and pick up identifiable body parts.  A couple of neighborhood dogs were there too and one of our guys called for help to get a half of a foot out of a dog's mouth.  It was organized chaos.

We went back to the base before noon and were never called back.  I had picked up a part of a leg or an arm I would not have recognized had the bone been protruding from it.

I heard later that out of 5 crew members only 90 pounds of remains had been recovered.  I don;t know if that was true or not.

Noel

Edited October 31, 20223 yr by birdguy

Because of this video, I had a look at the others at that website and was fascinated by the series of six videos about the search for the remains of Susan Powell, plus the video she recorded before disappearing. In all that sadness and frustration was one lighter moment when Sparks was rappelling down a mineshaft and got his beard caught in the rappel device.

I remembered that one I had watched several months ago. They have also done quite a bit of recovery working alongside "Adventures With A Purpose." They helped retrieve the remains of a car that had disappeared 22 years ago, which took the lives of two young boys. It was particularly somber and saddening. 

1 hour ago, birdguy said:

I heard later that out of 5 crew members only 90 pounds of remains had been recovered.  I don;t know if that was true or not.

That is what made the retrieval of Mr. Wirt's remains so tragic. All of the families assets were in Mr. Wirt's name, and were inaccessible to Mrs. Wirt until she obtained a Death Certificate. The which she could not get until the remains were recovered. Which couldn't happen until she came up with roughly $50k to hire recovery experts... <sigh>

Poor Mr. Wirt's body was virtually shredded by the torn metal of the aircraft and made separating the body parts from the wreck extremely difficult.

My very last call when I was a Paramedic in Raleigh, NC was for a ten-year-old victim of a hit and run driver. My spirit was utterly crushed as I scoured the area looking for the poor kid's body parts. After dropping off the remains at the morgue, I told my partner that I'd reached the bitter end and had to resign.