Nov. 20--A wedding album. Cookbooks. A favorite baking pan.
The elderly couple who survived a plane crashing into their home near Midway Airport say they are "forever grateful" to the firefighters who not only came to their aid this week but went out of their way to save pieces of their lives that were dear to them.
"They knew it meant so much to us," said Amy Rolinskas, the granddaughter of Raymond and Roberta Rolinskas, who are in their 80s. "We will never forget how wonderful and outstanding they all were."
The couple were asleep in their brick home in the 6500 block of South Knox Avenue when a twin-engine cargo plane plowed into their living room shortly after taking off from Midway about 2:45 a.m. Tuesday. The pilot was killed, but the plane missed the couple's bedroom by inches and they were not injured.
"First and foremost, my grandparents ... are alive and safe. They are doing as well as can be expected after surviving a plane crashing into their house and losing a home that they have been in for more than 55 years," Rolinskas told the Tribune.
"We are forever grateful for every single Chicago firefighter that was there Tuesday," she added. "They all went above and beyond their job and showed us such amazing compassion. Besides doing their job in such extreme cold weather, they helped us by saving my grandmother's cookbooks, her favorite baking pan and my grandparents' wedding album because they knew it meant so much to us."
Rolinskas also offered condolences to the family of the pilot, Eric Quentin Howlett, 47, of Groveport, Ohio.
"Our family is deeply saddened by the loss of the pilot, Eric Howlett, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends," Rolinskas said.
Howlett's family released a statement calling him "a hero who dedicated his life to serving others."
"Consistently positive, he was always willing to lift and help, whether serving as a missionary in Kiribati and Puerto Rico for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints ... working as a scoutmaster or being a truly great father and friend," according to the statement. "He was the first to make the best of a bad situation, and we are confident that he is relieved to know that no one else was injured or killed in this tragedy."
Howlett had dreamed of being a pilot since he was a boy, the statement said.
His personal motto was "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing," the statement said. "His earthly end came as he lived his great adventure. His family has faith that they will be with him again. Until then, he will be flying with God."
Howlett is survived by by his wife, Christina, their five children, his parents and eight siblings. His 25th wedding anniversary would have been next month.
Howlett had taken off from Midway and was still circling the airport when he radioed the air traffic tower that he had an emergency and was trying to make it to any of the three runways aligned southeast to northwest, an air traffic control source said. "The tower cleared him to land on any runway and then watched him go down as he was maneuvering," the source said.
The plane went down about a quarter of a mile from the airport, crashing through the front of the Rolinskases' home and coming to rest in the living room, its tail wedged against the roof of a neighboring house. The plane hit the right side and front of the house, 8 inches from where the couple were sleeping in a bedroom on the left side of the home, according to neighbors and fire officials.
The plane, an Aero Commander 500, had initially been headed for Chicago Executive Airport in Wheeling. But Howlett made a last-minute change to the flight plan before takeoff and listed the destination as the Ohio State University Airport in Columbus, near the suburb of Groveport.
A spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board said the agency is examining the wreckage to determine the cause of the crash and expects to have a preliminary report in about a week.
