I will never forget what happened 24 years ago October 7th 1990

24 Years ago on October 7th 1990 a life changing event happened in my life.  I was at a friends house when my friend told me that my work was trying to get a hold of me and they were on the phone.  Note that I have no idea how they even knew I was even there.  I got on the phone and they stated my Uncle Jerry was there looking for me.  I had not seen or talked to my Uncle Jerry in months so I knew something bad must have happened.  I already had a bad (gut) feeling that something happened to my Mom.  When I arrived at my work (Pizza Hut on Galloway in Mesquite, Texas) my Uncle was there along with Aunt and my cousins.  My Uncle said that my Mom was in an accident and we were going to my Grandpas house as everyone was there.  As we arrived, I could not believe how many people were there I knew then that it was bad.  I was then told that my Mom passed away in a helicopter crash earlier in the day.  I was in shock.  I can't recall too much after that but remember watching the 10 o'clock news and it was reported then that she had passed away in the helicopter crash.  I finally then began to believe the story and then broke down.

My Mom (Linda L. Eubanks) was the most beautiful and giving person you would ever know.  She worked at Tri-City hospital in Dallas, Texas as an Administrator.  She was very well known.  As I was told, Doctor Randy Gillum had a business event at his property in Mesquite, Texas and planned the free helicopter rides as sort of an incentive for the people that showed up.  Dr. Gillum owned Royal Aviation at Mesquite Airport where I actually worked for a few years and owned quite a few aircraft including this helicopter.  He hired an off duty Dallas police officer helicopter pilot to fly the Enstrom F28-C helicopter.  From what I know the pilot survived but was injured pretty badly.  I would love to get into contact with that pilot to just see how he is doing.  Hopefully he or his family members may come across this blog and contact me.

From what I understand and heard was that my Mom being a go getter and always was willing to take chances and speak her mind, she fought to be the first one on the helicopter.  She then was the first one to ride and the helicopter took off flying low and the engine cut out without being able to auto rotate the blades safely down.  The helicopter then crashed close to the Mesquite catfish farm on her side of the aircraft.  Supposedly she survived a little while as she was airlifted to the hospital.  Below is an excerpt I gathered from AirCrashed.com:

THE HELICOPTER HAD DEPARTED THE RANCH FOR A LOCAL AREA PLEASURE FLIGHT WHEN AT APPROXIMATELY 300 FEET AGL A LOSS OF POWER OCCURRED. IT WAS OVER A HEAVILY WOODED AREA. THE PILOT ATTEMPTED TO EXTEND THE GLIDE BY PULLING IN COLLECTIVE PITCH AND MAKING A RIGHT TURN (QUARTERING TAILWIND) TO THE ONLY AVAILABLE CLEAR AREA. THE MAIN ROTOR RPM CONTINUED TO DECAY AND THE HELICOPTER DESCENDED VERTICALLY OUT OF CONTROL TO IMPACT ONTO THE OPEN FIELD. THE SKIDS COLLAPSED AND THE HELICOPTER ROLLED RIGHT. POST-ACCIDENT EXAMINATION OF THE WRECKAGE REVEALED THAT A MISALIGNED P-LEAD WIRE IN THE MAGNETO HAD CHAFED AND ARCED. ADDITIONALLY, BOTH P-LEAD CAPS WERE FOUND LOOSE. THE DIRECTOR OF MAINTENANCE FOR THE OPERATOR STATED THAT HE AND HIS MECHANIC DID NOT ADJUST THE MAGNETO TIMING BECAUSE IT WAS TO HARD TOO REACH ON THE HELICOPTER. THE ENGINE WAS TEST RUN WITHOUT DUPLICATION OF THE POWER LOSS. http://aircrashed.com/cause/cFTW91FA002.shtml

Aircraft details on ENSTROM F28-C Air Crashed in 10/7/1990 at 1447 in MESQUITE, TEXAS, USA, causing Destroyed damage to the Helicopter:
TOTAL: 2 injuries

Fatal Injuries: 1

Serious Injuries: 1

Departure City: MESQUITE

Departure State: TEXAS

Departure Country: USA

Departure Time: 1440 CDT

Weather Source: Weather Observation Facility

Time of Observation: 1450 CDT

Lighting Conditions: Day

Sky Conditions: Scattered

Visibility: 20

Air Temperature (degrees Celsius): 34

Dew Point (degrees Fahrenheit):

Wind Direction: 220

Wind Speed: 10

Aircraft Category: Helicopter

Manufacturer's name: ENSTROM http://www.aviastar.org/helicopters_eng/enstrom-28.php

Model: F28-C

Series Identifier: F28-C

Serial Number: 344

Aircraft Registration Number: N88RA

Federal Aviation Registration Type: Part 91: General Aviation

Certified Max Gross Weight: 2350

Registration Class: U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil

Homebuilt? N

Total Number of Seats:

Number of Engines: 1

Fixed/Retractable Gear:

Type of Last Inspection: 100 Hour

Date of Last Inspection: 7/26/1990

Total Airframe Hours: 1089

Airframe Hours since Last Inspection: 27

ELT Installed? Yes

ELT Activated? No

Aircraft Owner Name:

Aircraft Owner City:

Operator Same as Owner? No

Aircraft Operator Name: DR. DONALD GILLUM

Aircraft Operator Code:

Aircraft Operator City: MESQUITE

I can't believe it's been 24 years ago that this happened.  I was 18 years old when this happened and am now older (42 years old) than my Mom was when she passed at the age of 40.  I have learned that life is precious and never take a day for granted.  Be happy and spread joy as you know 1 out of 1 people die.  I continue to keep God close to me and he has always been there for me.  I pray for all you and thanks for reading this.  I have never written a blog about this but I feel it's time to share and yes please leave comments below and if you remember Linda or this event please comment.  I would love to hear from all of you.  Thanks again for your time and God Bless you!  I posted some photos below of my Mom.