CHENEY -- Professors and fellow students are remembering a Spokane area soldier and Eastern Washington University grad who died earlier this week when the helicopter he was flying crashed in Afghanistan.

Forty-year-old Chief Warrant Officer Niall Lyons died when the MH-47 Chinook Helicopter he was flying crashed near Darreh-ye Bum, Afghanistan while doing military operations. Six other soldiers lost their lives in the crash.

Niall graduated from the Geography Department at Eastern Washington University in 1995. His professors say that he made an impression on most of those he met, which made it even harder for them hearing the news of his passing.

“I saw it in this morning's paper and it hit me between the eyes,” Dr. Dan Turbeville said. “He was open and easy going, didn't get excited about things. He was just the sort of person that stood out in a classroom no matter how many people were there, you knew Niall was there.”

Niall started his military career in 1994 -- a year before he graduated from Eastern -- and had been deployed to the Middle East twice according to the Department of Defense. He was awarded more than a dozen medals throughout his career.

“As a former veteran, it really struck me that of all the people it had to be, it had to be him,” Turbeville said.

Lyons and the bodies of the other soldiers killed in the crash arrived in the United States Wednesday at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. Niall will be returning soon to Spokane.

“We're just very proud of him,” Dr. Stacy Warren said.

Lyons graduated from Shadle Park High School in 1988 before attending Eastern.

“I remember how complimentary he was,” former high school classmate Todd Bender said in an email. “You could give him a compliment and he would turn it around to where you were the one that deserved to be recognized. I am not surprised at all that he went into the service.”

Niall is survived by his parents, brothers and sisters, who all live in Spokane, and a son who lives in Alabama. The Lyons family is requesting privacy and said that Niall had requested as little coverage as possible in the case that he dies at war.

The governor has ordered all flags to be flown at half-mast on Wednesday, November 4th in honor of CWO Niall Lyons.