Family, friends remember 2 men killed in Eatonville plane crash

When it came to outdoor adventure, few were more passionate than Steve Bleifuhs and John Henricks.

Bleifuhs, the longtime manager with King County’s Department of Natural Resources and Parks, was beloved among Washington’s competitive road cyclists, could change a flat tire faster than anyone and would sometimes race so far ahead of his group that he would get lost, his teammates said.

And at 34, Henricks left his forestry career to pursue his passion for aviation with the Washington National Guard, serving in Iraq and Kuwait and specializing in repairing Black Hawk helicopters while running his plane maintenance business on the side.

The unexpected loss of both men from a small-plane crash south of Eatonville on Saturday has left their families and communities reeling.

Officials have not yet identified who died in the crash. But family members and friends confirmed Bleifuhs, a 53-year-old Issaquah father of two, and Henricks, a 40-year-old Eatonville father of three, as the victims.

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating what caused Henricks’ single-engine, two-seat Citabria plane to plummet from the sky shortly after takeoff.

Everybody is devastated because of the suddenness” said Josh Baldi, director of the King County Water and Land Resources Division and Bleifuhs’ boss. “We’re going to be processing this for a long time.”

Michael McGuffin recalled waving from the runway as Bleifuhs, his longtime cycling buddy, climbed into the seat behind Henricks, grinned and gave a thumbs-up through the window.

They had all met just the day before, as McGuffin, Bleifuhs and Henricks’ wife, Roslyn, were scoping out gravel trails for a future bike race.

Bleifuhs, a plane enthusiast who once thought of being a commercial pilot, was thrilled when Henricks invited him to see the landscape from above, McGuffin said.

But shortly after takeoff, McGuffin saw the plane go down from the corner of his eye, followed by sirens. Minutes later, Roslyn Henricks spotted an alert of a nearby aircraft emergency.

“I just knew,” she said. “It unfolded so quickly.”

Steve Bleifuhs

Outdoor adventures were part of Bleifuhs’ life from the start, said his brother, Mark Bleifuhs.