Honorees

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Year Honored
2008
Honoree
Ricky Byers
Agency
Southwest Med Evac
Agency City
Las Cruces
Agency State
NM
Last Call
8/5/07
Cause of Death
Medical Aviation Accident
Biography
"May you fly with the wind at your back with wings of gold. We have been blessed with three angels to watch over the rest of us from heaven," said his friends and co-workers. Ricky took his flying seriously, and he loved the fact that he was taking part in saving people's lives.<br /> <br /> Ricky Byers, 56, of Dimmitt, Texas was killed in the Line of Duty on August 6, 2007. He was piloting the medical plane that departed the Sierra Blanca Regional Airport, conducting a patient transport when the accident occurred. The air ambulance crashed in the rugged mountainous terrain in Devil's Canyon, located in the Lincoln National Forest. There were no survivors.<br /> <br /> Byers graduated from Texas Tech University with a degree in Agricultural Economics, then ran a business, "Sunnyside Grain and Fertilizer" in Sunnyside, Texas. He trained and became a pilot for Southwest Medevac in 2006.<br /> <br /> Ricky cared about the people that he flew with, and he cared about the patients, sometimes he would be quiet after a transfer, knowing that it was an unusually tough run. But he would always pull it together and be himself in no time it all. It was a challenging job, but Ricky loved every minute of it.<br /> <br /> Honored 2008