By Andy Sedlak

TURTLECREEK TWP., Warren County — The last 24 hours have been “surreal” for Wilson Bowles.

On Wednesday he was one of four riding in a single-engine airplane when it crashed.

Shortly after takeoff it was discovered a safety latch securing a door over the plane’s entrance was not engaged. A whirlwind ensued inside the Piper 28 airplane, as evidenced by his older brother’s hair uncompromisingly being blown back.

After hitting a crosswind, a “pop” came from the plane’s engine, signaling the engine had stopped. While circling back to return to the Lebanon-Warren County Airport, the plane reportedly went through a split in nearby power lines before briefly bursting into flames once grounded in a field.

Then he walked away, having never lost consciousness.

“Did that really just happen?” Wilson Bowles, 22, asked while recovering Thursday afternoon. “Did I really just walk out of that airplane? That’s not something a lot of people can say.”

Katherine Bowles, 30, was most critically injured and remains in the intensive care unit at Miami Valley Hospital. The plane also carried her husband, Zachary, and two of his brothers. The three brothers are originally from California.

Her husband, Zachary Bowles, 30, lives on Deerfield Road in Lebanon.

Zeb, Zachary and Wilson Bowles were taken to Atrium Medical Center for minor injuries. Neither Zeb nor Zachary were listed as patients Thursday night, according to the hospital. Wilson Bowles had previously been transferred out.

Zeb Bowles, 32, has been identified as the pilot and now lives in Colorado. Wilson still resides in California.

According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Zeb is a fairly new pilot, only having his pilot’s license for three months. But Wilson said his brother had been flying since he was about 15 years old.

Wilson said the family intended to land at an airport outside of Cincinnati to shop at an aeronautics store called Sporty’s Pilot Shop.

After the crash, all three brothers walked away but Katherine was pulled out of the plane, Wilson said. A nearby resident, who happened to be a trauma doctor, responded to the scene to assist.

“He was the white knight that came in,” Wilson Bowles said.

Bowles still doesn’t know the man’s name.

Investigators are trying to determine why the plane crashed near Mulford and Greentree roads around 4 p.m. Wednesday. The family says there were issues with the plane, pointing to the problem with the safety latch.

The Middletown Journal was unable to contact anyone at the Lebanon-Warren County Airport for comment Thursday evening.

Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the FAA is investigating the accident, which typically takes months to conclude.

“It’s impossible to say at this point if any violations will result,” Cory said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating. Using information relayed by the FAA, Keith Holloway, spokesman for the safety agency, said a preliminary report may be available in as early as one week.

“We’ll be looking at what happened with the aircraft itself,” Holloway said. “It could be a number of things — weather, mechanical, (or) human input.”

Wilson Bowles said he posted pictures of the wreckage on Facebook and reaction from California has been immediate.

“(They say) you got a second life,” Bowles said. “You should go buy a lottery ticket.”

Staff writer Hannah Poturalski contributed to this report.