Their small plane crashed at MacArthur Airport on Long Island on Monday, killing the two men on board. The guys were from Virginia.
At about 6:15 p.m., Christopher Kucera, 46, and Zachary Hatcher, 43, died when their single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza A36 crashed not long after taking off from Ronkonkoma airport.
Officials say that Kucera, from Fredericksburg, was flying the plane, and Hatcher, from King George, was the only person on board with him.
The scene of the accident said that both were dead.
They were on their way back to Virginia from visiting friends on Long Island when they were killed.
The plane came back to the runway quickly after taking off, according to people who saw it happen. It then crashed into some grass.
Mike Kucera, Kucera’s brother, told the Fredericksburg Free Press that Kucera learned to fly before he was 17 years old and lived to be an air and space engineer.
“Chris died living his best life with the person he loved the most.” He told a local newspaper, “We’re thankful for that.”
He thinks the plane went down when it lost power.
“Chris is a hero for keeping people from getting hurt on the ground, given that the power went out so soon after takeoff,” he said.
“It’s terrible,” Mike Kucera said. “Chris loved Zach and that plane.”
The Free Press said that Hatcher was set to begin a new job early next month as CEO of the non-profit Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region.
“Zach and Chris were great to be around,” Teri McNally, who is leaving her job as CEO of the charity, said.
“Today I told someone that both of them made you feel like they were your best friends.” It sounds like everyone said, “He was my best friend.”
The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are both looking into the crash that killed people.