The deaths of a Marysville man and two former Bellingham residents at a Reno air race Friday sent shock waves through communities of aviation enthusiasts and their friends and families.
George Hewitt, 60, a retired Air Canada pilot, and his wife, Wendy, 57, were sitting in box seats reserved for members of the Oak Harbor-based Cascade Warbirds group when a World War II-era plane slammed like a missile into the crowded tarmac, killing nine people including the pilot.
Also killed in the tragedy was Greg Morcom, 47, a construction worker who lived with his parents in Marysville and who was attending his first Reno air show with relatives.
"He was such a stand-up guy. He was always there for his friends," Morcom's friend Dana Hicks told KING-TV.
"The Morcoms are lovely, lovely people," said a neighbor, Fran Barnett, who often saw Greg doing yard work for his parents. "He really worked hard for his mom and dad."
Floyd Murrill, a friend of 30 years, recalled Morcom's sense of humor, and said, "He was with family down there, he was doing something he absolutely loved, which was attending his first air-race show."
A snowmobiler and Seahawks fan, Morcom was with his father and brother, Ron Morcom Sr. and Jr., who had attended the event annually for more than 20 years, Ron Morcom Jr. told KOMO-TV. He owns Regal Air at Paine Field.
George Hewitt was born in Winnipeg and flew as a pilot with Air Canada for more than 40 years. He initially flew DC-8s and retired as a Boeing 777 captain. The Hewitts moved from Bellingham to Fort Mohave, Ariz., more than a year ago upon George Hewitt's retirement, his brother Wayne Hewitt said.
He remained an enthusiastic pilot after retiring, Wayne Hewitt said. His retirement place was a "fly-in" community, where residents have airplane hangars by their houses near the runway.
Hewitt owned a small Navion propeller plane, a post-World War II plane originally built by the same company that produced the P-51 Mustang — the model that crashed in Reno.
He took first place this year in one race at a convention in Cody, Wyo., of the Navion Society, a club for owners of that model of airplane.
Romi Singh, president of Aviation Research Corp. of Point Roberts, Whatcom County, grew up with Hewitt in Winnipeg and flew with him for Air Canada.
"We hung around at the flying clubs and learned to fly in the same area," said Singh, who heard the news while traveling in London.
Hewitt's parents owned a pizza place in Winnipeg, and Singh recalls that he gave the Air Canada flight crews a fringe benefit when flights took them to his hometown.
"Every time we flew through Winnipeg, his parents would bring us a ton of pizzas the whole crew enjoyed," said Singh.
In 1982, Singh coordinated a round-the-world flight by two young men to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society. Hewitt was one of a dozen Air Canada pilots who volunteered to help.
Hewitt was stationed in Shannon, Ireland, for the flight, making sure the fliers had a rest stop arranged and an ongoing flight plan. "He was very well liked," said Singh. "This is tragic."
The Hewitts had four children, all grown and living in British Columbia.
Greg Anders, commanding officer of Cascade Warbirds, a group of about 220 owners of vintage warplanes and their supporters, said the Hewitts "were a great couple that really loved aviation."
After the crash, Anders said, Warbirds members took quick action: "Everybody dusted themselves off and rolled into that first responder role."
Anders, who was at an air show in Idaho at the time of the Reno crash, said air races feature planes that have been modified for racing. "Air racing starts with warbirds but they're not warbirds, they're air racers," he said. "They garner just as much passion as the warbirds."
National Transportation Safety Board member Mark Rosekind said at a Sunday briefing in Reno that the NTSB made recommendations in 1972 for keeping planes a safe distance from spectators at air races. Crash investigators will look at human, mechanical and "environmental" factors, which include plans and policies for the race, Rosekind said.
Federal officials also said they had recovered real-time flight information and memory cards possibly from a video camera aboard the plane.
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