Horror

 If you follow general aviation, I'm sure by now you have heard of the airplane crash in Keene, NH that took the lives of two people.

David was my little brother.  He turned 599 this year.  David was that kid down at the FBO who would do anything for an hour of flight time.  Sweep hangers, spot planes, clean up messes, he did it all to fly.  He got his pilots lisense shortly after he got his drivers license.

David went in the Army right out of high school and did a tour in Germany, where he worked as a crew chief on UH-1 helicopters.  When he came out of the Army, he met his wife and they settled down in her hometown of Townshend, VT.  He got out of aviation for a while, but after his two kids were out of high school, he went back to it with everything he had.  I looked at David's FAA certification today.  Airplane, single and multi-engine, commercial, instrument instructor.

I last saw David in July, when he came home for a short visit.  We had the opportunity to spend an afternoon together.  He wouldn't have a drink with me because he valued his pilot's license above all else. David worked at what he called the "salt mine" during the day, then went to the airport and taught aviation for a couple of hours before going home.

According from what I can piece together from the news items, David had a student in his plane, and was about a mile or less from the airport.  Something went horribly wrong.  David and his student died.

The family is in shock.