This is Jay Mower writing. I was shocked to learn that Brent Henderson is no longer with us. I had no idea he had died. I went to school with Brent throughout my youth: Ensign Elementary, Bryant Junior High, and East High. He was always upbeat and positive with me and I considered him a friend. But after high school we all went our separate ways. I was surprised to read in our Class of 1970 reunion Web site that Brent had died in 1991. But there was no further information. I wondered what happened. My older brother, David Mower, is good friends with Brent's older brother, David Henderson. My older brother made inquiries on my behalf to learn what happened to Brent. For those of you who are interested, I post two items. The first is a short paragraph from a family Web site:
"It was November of l991 when Brent and Mark owned Classic Helicopters ( Mark still does) Brent took the Helicopter on a practice run of taking off and landing. He crashed and burned leaving a wife and four children. It was a terrible tragedy for our whole family. His wife is amazing though. She has raised 2 boys and 2 girls . . . . They are all married now and Lael is enjoying all her grandchildren. Brent left a great legacy when he died. . . . We sorely miss him."
The second item is a news article from The Deseret News about what happened:
COPTER TRAGEDY ENDS PERFECT SAFETY RECORD
By Matthew Brown and Joseph Bauman, Staff Writers
Published: Saturday, Nov. 9, 1991 12:00 a.m. MST
The Sandy company's advertisement in the phone book boasts, "Utah's only perfect safety record."
But Classic Helicopter Service's record of no accidents in its eight-year existence tragically changed Friday.Shortly after 11 a.m., company co-owner Brent T. Henderson boarded one of his Bell-206 Jet Rangers to practice hovering at the Salt Lake International Airport's Executive Terminal. According to eyewitness and official accounts, soon after the chopper lifted off the ground, a pilot's worst nightmare happened: Power to the ship's tail rotor failed, sending the craft spinning wildly out of control.
Witnesses said Henderson struggled to avoid hitting the nearby Majestic Air Service hangar and parked aircraft.
Gary Devor, a student at Salt Lake Community College's Aviation Campus, located near the terminal, said he was taking a lunchtime walk when noise from the troubled helicopter caught his attention. He "glanced up and saw a chopper in the air spinning out of control. . . . He (Henderson) tried to bring the chopper down. . . . It looked like he tried to land it . . . it was spinning."
Then, the helicopter seemed to lose power, as if the pilot had decided to cut power to the main rotor in order to land it. "The blades were slowing, they weren't spinning like the way they were before," he said.
With that, the helicopter "just dropped," he said. "I saw it disappear behind the buildings."
In Henderson's attempt to land the unwieldy machine, it slammed into the asphalt taxiway from about 100 feet in the air and exploded into a ball of fire.
"I heard this loud boom. It was like somebody landed on top of the building," said Karen Stratford, dispatcher for American Air Academy at the airport. Stratford looked out the window and saw a strip of fire about 100 feet long. The resulting black smoke could be seen from downtown Salt Lake City.When the flames were doused, all that was left of the $825,000 helicopter was a mound of charred, tangled steel, surrounded by foam fire retardant. A white sheet draped over a section of the wreckage covered the body of Henderson, whose death leaves a wife and four children in Orem without a husband or father.
"We're devastated. We lost a friend and a great man in an odd fluke of an accident," said Dan Rudert, a pilot with Classic Helicopters.
Rudert had flown to Farnsworth Peak early Friday with no problems in the same chopper that Henderson crashed in a few hours later. But he noted that Henderson was a private pilot and not a professional regularly flying and trained to handle malfunctions.
Once a month, the professional pilots at Classic practice handling simulated crises - such as loss of tail rotor control - as part of their training. And even though there are methods to gain control of the craft during tail rotor loss, it is the most difficult problem to control, Rudert said. The tail rotor counters the force of the large overhead rotor and stabilizes the helicopter, otherwise the craft would spin out of control.
Rotor failure is particularly dangerous during takeoff, which is apparently what occurred in Henderson's case, according to officials' preliminary conclusions about the accident.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive from Seattle late Friday to determine exactly what caused the accident - the second helicopter fatality in about 10 years at Salt Lake International.
Airport director Louis E. Miller said investigators may release a statement on their preliminary findings sometime Saturday, then after several months a final report will be issued.
Meantime, airport operations at the Executive Terminal will continue as normal, he said, with aircraft detoured around the wreckage.
Brent was a dear friend and client through the years. We had the greatest time in Cub Scouts swimming in the Henderson pool under the biggest plastic bubble. It was unthinkable to have a pool, let alone one with a bubble. Brent was always a gentleman, and a great classmate and friend. During our 10 plus years in school together, he was one of my dearest friends. We had many great times growing up together. His death was a tragedy, but he was always doing interesting and exciting things. His family is a great legacy to his life. John Hewlett
Brent was always mellow. I remember in 3rd grade when the teacher called for kids to pick partners for dance, Leslie Montague would call out to Brent to hurry over to pick her. He would jump over desks and chairs busting his butt to get to her as she kept calling to him to hurry. It was quite cute. We would play football up at the 14th ave and H st. field across from his house. he was always there to play and would always be the center, he didn't care if he QB'd or was a reciever, he just loved being the center and was so dependable.
Brent was always cheerful and a good friend to everybody.
BRENT ! We miss you and still talk about the great times we had together growing up!
Georg and I were either boating, skiing, swimming or 4wheelin with him. Double dating was always fun with Brent and he was an awesome friend to both of us. Brent was our best man at our wedding and we kept in touch until he passed away. He must have a great spirit to leave this earth so soon!
I found Brent Henderson's obituary from an online search:
BRENT THOMAS HENDERSON
Brent Thomas Henderson, 39, beloved husband, father, and son, died November 8, 1991. He was killed in a helicopter accident.
He was born February 8, 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jay H. Henderson (deceased) and Beth McCullough Henderson. He married Lael Marie Upton, August 27, 1974 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.Brent was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from East High School and attended BYU He served an LDS mission to Spain. Brent served as Elders Quorum President, counselor in the bishopric, and in other capacities in the LDS Church. He was in a partnership with his family in a number of businesses. He was a hard worker and always enjoyed a challenge. Brent loved his family dearly. We will all miss him very much.
Survived by his wife, Lael Henderson; and four children: Marie, David, Julie, and Peter; mother, Beth Henderson Kirk, Salt Lake City; four brothers and one sister: David, Bountiful; Mark, Ogden; Scott and Jim, Salt Lake City; Dianne Bailey, Centerville.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 1991, at 2:00 p.m. at Lakeridge 5th Ward LDS Chapel, 575 South 400 West, Orem. Friends may call Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center, Provo, and at the church Wednesday, one hour prior to services. Interment, Orem City Cemetery.
Jay Mower
This is Jay Mower writing. I was shocked to learn that Brent Henderson is no longer with us. I had no idea he had died. I went to school with Brent throughout my youth: Ensign Elementary, Bryant Junior High, and East High. He was always upbeat and positive with me and I considered him a friend. But after high school we all went our separate ways. I was surprised to read in our Class of 1970 reunion Web site that Brent had died in 1991. But there was no further information. I wondered what happened. My older brother, David Mower, is good friends with Brent's older brother, David Henderson. My older brother made inquiries on my behalf to learn what happened to Brent. For those of you who are interested, I post two items. The first is a short paragraph from a family Web site:
"It was November of l991 when Brent and Mark owned Classic Helicopters ( Mark still does) Brent took the Helicopter on a practice run of taking off and landing. He crashed and burned leaving a wife and four children. It was a terrible tragedy for our whole family. His wife is amazing though. She has raised 2 boys and 2 girls . . . . They are all married now and Lael is enjoying all her grandchildren. Brent left a great legacy when he died. . . . We sorely miss him."
The second item is a news article from The Deseret News about what happened:
COPTER TRAGEDY ENDS PERFECT SAFETY RECORD
The Sandy company's advertisement in the phone book boasts, "Utah's only perfect safety record."
But Classic Helicopter Service's record of no accidents in its eight-year existence tragically changed Friday.Shortly after 11 a.m., company co-owner Brent T. Henderson boarded one of his Bell-206 Jet Rangers to practice hovering at the Salt Lake International Airport's Executive Terminal. According to eyewitness and official accounts, soon after the chopper lifted off the ground, a pilot's worst nightmare happened: Power to the ship's tail rotor failed, sending the craft spinning wildly out of control.
Witnesses said Henderson struggled to avoid hitting the nearby Majestic Air Service hangar and parked aircraft.
Gary Devor, a student at Salt Lake Community College's Aviation Campus, located near the terminal, said he was taking a lunchtime walk when noise from the troubled helicopter caught his attention. He "glanced up and saw a chopper in the air spinning out of control. . . . He (Henderson) tried to bring the chopper down. . . . It looked like he tried to land it . . . it was spinning."
Then, the helicopter seemed to lose power, as if the pilot had decided to cut power to the main rotor in order to land it. "The blades were slowing, they weren't spinning like the way they were before," he said.
With that, the helicopter "just dropped," he said. "I saw it disappear behind the buildings."
In Henderson's attempt to land the unwieldy machine, it slammed into the asphalt taxiway from about 100 feet in the air and exploded into a ball of fire.
"I heard this loud boom. It was like somebody landed on top of the building," said Karen Stratford, dispatcher for American Air Academy at the airport. Stratford looked out the window and saw a strip of fire about 100 feet long. The resulting black smoke could be seen from downtown Salt Lake City.When the flames were doused, all that was left of the $825,000 helicopter was a mound of charred, tangled steel, surrounded by foam fire retardant. A white sheet draped over a section of the wreckage covered the body of Henderson, whose death leaves a wife and four children in Orem without a husband or father.
"We're devastated. We lost a friend and a great man in an odd fluke of an accident," said Dan Rudert, a pilot with Classic Helicopters.
Rudert had flown to Farnsworth Peak early Friday with no problems in the same chopper that Henderson crashed in a few hours later. But he noted that Henderson was a private pilot and not a professional regularly flying and trained to handle malfunctions.
Once a month, the professional pilots at Classic practice handling simulated crises - such as loss of tail rotor control - as part of their training. And even though there are methods to gain control of the craft during tail rotor loss, it is the most difficult problem to control, Rudert said. The tail rotor counters the force of the large overhead rotor and stabilizes the helicopter, otherwise the craft would spin out of control.
Rotor failure is particularly dangerous during takeoff, which is apparently what occurred in Henderson's case, according to officials' preliminary conclusions about the accident.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board were expected to arrive from Seattle late Friday to determine exactly what caused the accident - the second helicopter fatality in about 10 years at Salt Lake International.
Airport director Louis E. Miller said investigators may release a statement on their preliminary findings sometime Saturday, then after several months a final report will be issued.
Meantime, airport operations at the Executive Terminal will continue as normal, he said, with aircraft detoured around the wreckage.
John B Hewlett
Brent was a dear friend and client through the years. We had the greatest time in Cub Scouts swimming in the Henderson pool under the biggest plastic bubble. It was unthinkable to have a pool, let alone one with a bubble. Brent was always a gentleman, and a great classmate and friend. During our 10 plus years in school together, he was one of my dearest friends. We had many great times growing up together. His death was a tragedy, but he was always doing interesting and exciting things. His family is a great legacy to his life. John Hewlett
Scott Savage
Brent was always mellow. I remember in 3rd grade when the teacher called for kids to pick partners for dance, Leslie Montague would call out to Brent to hurry over to pick her. He would jump over desks and chairs busting his butt to get to her as she kept calling to him to hurry. It was quite cute. We would play football up at the 14th ave and H st. field across from his house. he was always there to play and would always be the center, he didn't care if he QB'd or was a reciever, he just loved being the center and was so dependable.
Brent was always cheerful and a good friend to everybody.
Valerie Hatch (Koenig)
Georg and I were either boating, skiing, swimming or 4wheelin with him. Double dating was always fun with Brent and he was an awesome friend to both of us. Brent was our best man at our wedding and we kept in touch until he passed away. He must have a great spirit to leave this earth so soon!
Jay Mower
I found Brent Henderson's obituary from an online search:
BRENT THOMAS HENDERSON
Brent Thomas Henderson, 39, beloved husband, father, and son, died November 8, 1991. He was killed in a helicopter accident.
He was born February 8, 1952 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Jay H. Henderson (deceased) and Beth McCullough Henderson. He married Lael Marie Upton, August 27, 1974 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.Brent was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from East High School and attended BYU He served an LDS mission to Spain. Brent served as Elders Quorum President, counselor in the bishopric, and in other capacities in the LDS Church. He was in a partnership with his family in a number of businesses. He was a hard worker and always enjoyed a challenge. Brent loved his family dearly. We will all miss him very much.
Survived by his wife, Lael Henderson; and four children: Marie, David, Julie, and Peter; mother, Beth Henderson Kirk, Salt Lake City; four brothers and one sister: David, Bountiful; Mark, Ogden; Scott and Jim, Salt Lake City; Dianne Bailey, Centerville.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 1991, at 2:00 p.m. at Lakeridge 5th Ward LDS Chapel, 575 South 400 West, Orem. Friends may call Tuesday evening from 6-8 p.m. at Berg Mortuary, 185 East Center, Provo, and at the church Wednesday, one hour prior to services. Interment, Orem City Cemetery.