Local Middle School Teacher Identified as Pilot in Beaver Island Plane Crash

Nov. 17—TRAVERSE CITY — The pilot in a weekend commuter airplane crash on Beaver Island has been identified as William Francis Julian, a teacher at Traverse City East Middle School and an active member in the Traverse City aviation community.

Charlevoix County Sheriff Charles Vondra confirmed that Julian, 55, who piloted the flight for Island Airways, was pronounced dead at McLaren Northern Michigan Hospital. Julian had been airlifted to the hospital in critical condition.

Three of the flight's passengers were pronounced dead at the scene of the crash at the Welke Airport, including Kate Leese and Adam Kendall, a couple who recently moved to Beaver Island, as well as Mike Perdue, a realtor from Gaylord traveling to the island with his daughter. Perdue's 11-year-old daughter, Laney, is the sole survivor of the crash and was flown with Julian to McLaren by a Coast Guard helicopter.

Perdue's mother Christina, in a Tuesday interview with ABC's Good Morning America, said her daughter — who was transferred to a Grand Rapids hospital following the crash — remains hospitalized with five broken bones. She said she believes her daughter survived because her husband, Mike, held her tight as the twin-engine airplane crashed.

"Laney told me in the hospital that her last memory is that dad just grabbed her and held her really, really tight, and in my heart I know that protected her," she said during the morning TV interview.

Charlevoix County officials didn't release Julian's name until Tuesday but on Sunday, East Middle School principal Marshall Perkins sent an email statement to parents of the school's students, notifying them of Julian's passing.

"We are saddened to report that East Middle School history teacher Bill Julian was involved in an accident and passed away unexpectedly Saturday, November 13th," Perkins said in the email. "Bill served as a teacher for TCAPS for 16 years and during that time was a devoted educator to the students he served."

East Middle School had a counseling and social work team present at the school Monday to support students and teachers processing the loss, Perkins said in the email. He also directed parents to a list of resources on how to support children experiencing grief from Michael's Place, a Traverse City-based healing center for people grieving the death of a loved one.

"We understand that moments like this can be challenging to process," Perkins said in the email.

Julian's family asked Traverse City Area Public Schools staff to not participate in any more public messages about his passing, said Ginger Smith, TCAPS communications director.

Beth Dunckel's daughter had Julian as a history teacher at East Middle for two years. Dunckel said Julian was "supportive" and "sympathetic" to his students, and he recognized them as individuals, especially because he had a school-aged daughter as well.

"He completely understood the middle school mentality," Dunckel said. "He was willing to help us as parents in any way he could."

Dunckel said Julian helped ease Dunckel's concerns about her daughter and COVID-19 during their virtual parent-teacher conference last year, offering to switch her seat in the classroom or extend assignment deadlines when necessary.

"I just hung up thinking 'he really cares about our daughter,'" Dunckel said.

Dunckel said her daughter told her that Monday was a "quiet, somber day," at the school following Julian's passing.

Outside of the classroom, Julian was an airplane enthusiast. He had begun a job as a part-time pilot for Island Airways in April of this year, according to Lt. William Church, an officer with the Charlevoix Sheriff's department.

Julian also belonged to the Experimental Aviation Association (EAA), where he taught introductory flight lessons designed to excite kids about careers in aviation, said Jim Sorbie, a fellow member of the EAA. The program is called Young Eagles, and has a chapter based out of Cherry Capital Airport.

"At our Young Eagles program that was his primary function — to give kids a briefing of what to expect, how the engine flew, the ins and outs of the plane," said Sorbie. "He was a teacher by profession as well as a professional pilot. He combined those two things to help a lot of young people."

Sorbie said that Julian was a key member of the organization, and had an ongoing mentorship with a 17-year-old who had been awarded a scholarship to learn how to fly.

"A good guy, an absolute gentleman," Sorbie said. "He's going to be missed by all his friends in the aviation community here in Traverse City."