ORLANDO, Fla. — A local ski instructor and his wife of just four days were killed in a plane crash on the way home from their honeymoon.
The pilot, Rob Stimmel, was very well known in the watersport and skiing industry.
Friends say he lived life to the fullest.
Last Friday, Stimmel tried to fly home to Washington with his new wife, but they did not make it.
“He was just a super, outgoing, larger than life guy, involved in so many things," said Stimmel's neighbor and longtime friend, Heidi Lind, from her Sammamish home. Stimmel and his wife, Maria Jose Cepa, were on board a small plan that ended up submerged in an Orlando-area lake.
They had married four days earlier.
Airport transmissions revealed 10 minutes after takeoff Stimmel, who recently bought the plane, was told he was flying too high.
“Turning Left 2-7-0,” said Stimmel in recordings released by officials. “For some reason I could not get my autopilot to disengage.”
The 62-year-old managed to stay calm as he tried to deal with the mechanical problem.
“And we pulled the circuit breaker but it's just, it's going up and it's going down,” he said.
Moments later, the plane went down into Clear Lake, killing Stimmel and Cepa.
Friend and neighbor Shawn Waters told KIRO 7 he was shocked after hearing news of the crash.
“Because Rob is such a good, safe individual and on any plane I know he would check and double check, triple check," he said.
Stimmel was the director of Mohan Skiing & Boarding at Snoqualmie Summit Central.
His wife from Venezuela was an instructor.
The company released a statement, in part saying “We appreciate the support of the entire Mohan community as we recover from this tragic loss and continue preparing for the upcoming season.”
Waters says he’ll never forget how Stimmel brought friends and neighbors together for yearly trips to Shasta Lake in California.
“He was the centerpiece of our fun times together," said Waters.
The FAA said Stimmel was trying to return to the nearby airport in Orlando but did not make it.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.
KIRO
