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Youngquist |
The pilot who died when his small plane crashed into a house in the town of Louisa Thursday has been identified by friends as James "Jay" Youngquist of Reston.
Colleagues said he was on his way to Danville to umpire a college baseball game.
The retired 62-year-old owned a lake house in Lakeshore Woods on Lake Anna and served as secretary-treasurer for the community's homeowners association.
He had also transported former Gov. Tim Kaine by plane during his 2005 campaign.
Friends described him as an extraordinary person and pilot.
"He was a wonderful man, and it won't be the same without him," said a close friend, Boo Perkins of Fairfax.
She said their families would celebrate Independence Day at Lake Anna and set off fireworks in the summer and would meet up in Northern Virginia during the winter holidays.
She said Youngquist's widow, Kathryn, and their three sons are still in shock.
Randy Cassada of Alexandria is on the board
"He does so much for the neighborhood," he said. "He took care of the Web site he would repair things. There's nobody that can replace him."
State Police Sgt. Thomas Molnar said the plane crashed into a home at 128 Jefferson Highway in the town of Louisa Thursday afternoon.
The 1981 Cessna T303 Crusader had been filled with 148 gallons of fuel at the a Louisa County airport minutes before crashing about a quarter of a mile from the airport, Molnar said.
He said the plane nose- dived into the house to the right of the front door.
The homeowner had walked down to the basement moments before the crash and walked away unharmed, Molnar said.
Youngquist was an instrument-rated pilot and was flying the six-seat aircraft alone from Manassas en route to Danville, where he was scheduled to umpire a baseball game at Averett University.
Drew Wilson, sports information director at Averett, said they had a moment of silence in Youngquist's honor when the game started at 3 p.m.
"Everybody was in agreement that it was a pretty somber atmosphere," Wilson said.
Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Commissioner John Porter is in charge of the umpire organization that Youngquist had worked for since 2004.
He said it was normal for Youngquist to travel long distances to umpire games because he loved doing it.
"He loved it so much that he was spending more money in plane fuel than the pay he was making as an umpire," Porter said.
He described Youngquist as a hard worker who gave the maximum effort by attending camp, clinics and getting upper-level umpire training.
"That's one of the things that made him extremely special for us," he said.
According to the Virginia Public Access Project, a non-profit that tracks campaign spending, Youngquist donated nearly $11,000 in in-kind contributions by flying Kaine around during his campaign for office in 2005. He was reimbursed more than $9,500 for fuel. He also donated $350 to Kaine's inaugural fund.
Kaine expressed sadness at Youngquist's death.
"Jay was a calm and caring person who loved to fly, and
Cassada said being a pilot and an umpire were Youngquist's two favorite hobbies, and he died doing something he enjoyed.
"He was an experienced pilot and I trust him as a pilot," he said. "I think it will be proved that [the accident] was a mechanical failure."
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Jim Peters said that witnesses reported the engines of the plane appeared to have quit.
The crash is being investigated by the Virginia State Police, the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board. Authorities are waiting for the state medical examiner's office to officially identify the pilot.
Portsia Smith: 540/374-5419
Email: psmith@fredericksburg.com
