Aug 30, 2008

Pilot flew his own way

Accomplished pilot remembered as man of faith, family

By Will Oremus and Jason Green / Daily News Staff Writers

At age 3, William John Leahy Jr. would sit with his father by the side of an airport runway and name the make and model of each plane as it landed.

After stints at West Point and the Moody Bible Institute's aviation school, he launched his own shop as a plane mechanic, and later became a respected long-distance pilot transporting planes for humanitarian missions around the world.

Bill Leahy's family confirmed Friday that he was the pilot killed in the fiery crash of a small Palo Alto-bound plane onto a residential street in Las Vegas Thursday afternoon. The 38-year-old Redwood City man leaves behind a wife and three children.

It's the third fatal crash involving pilots of Palo Alto-based planes in the past month. Initial reports suggest engine trouble might have played a part in this latest accident, which claimed an accomplished flyer who had dodged nighttime gunfire over Africa and forged an unusual career out of grueling transcontinental solo flights.

Leahy owned his own business modifying and transporting aircraft to remote parts of the world and had more than 50 long-range, ocean flights under his belt. He was profiled in the Daily News on Aug. 14, a day before he embarked on a solo flight to deliver a single-engine plane to Indonesia for the disaster relief group Mission Aviation Fellowship.

To make the 5,500-mile journey to Sentani, Papua, Leahy designed and installed two 250-gallon fuel tanks in the plane.

From what's known, Leahy's last flight was supposed to be nothing so dramatic. His mother, Jean Leahy, said he booked a commercial flight to Las Vegas to pick up a another plane for a private client.

The plane was registered to Aeronet Supply of Gardena, Calif., which did not return calls Friday.

The plane had undergone unspecified mechanical work at the North Las Vegas Airport before Leahy flew it on Thursday, the Clark County Aviation Department said. He apparently planned to take it to his home base at the Palo Alto Airport and modify it before taking it to its destination in Southeast Asia.

Shortly after departing, he reported engine trouble to air traffic controllers and requested permission to return to the airport. Witnesses said the plane was already trailing smoke when it plunged to the ground about a half mile short of the runway.

The plane landed in between two houses, sparking a three-alarm fire. None of the occupants was injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash's cause.

Family described Leahy as a man of religious faith and moral conviction, with a dry sense of humor and an independent streak that led him to mistrust the government and the mainstream media.

"I loved him because he loved the lord more than anything else," said his widow, Susie Leahy. "He had no problem sharing that with anybody. He was going to be the man that stood on the hill and said, 'That's the way it should be.' "

His father, William Leahy Sr., was a Delta Airlines pilot who moved the family from Denver to Redwood City when Bill, the middle of their three children, was in grade school. The elder Leahy imparted both his fascination with flight and his Christian values, often reading to young Bill from a book called "Character Sketches from the Pages of Scripture."

The family was active in Peninsula Covenant Church, which is where Leahy first met his wife-to-be. But he didn't begin dating her until after college.

Bill's younger brother, Micheal Leahy, said their father wanted Bill to attend the Air Force Academy, but in a typical display of independence, he chose West Point instead. Weak grades and a back injury led him away from the academy after two years, and he transferred to the Moody Bible Institute in Tennessee to learn aviation.

He left the college in 1997 to start his own general aviation maintenance business and carved out a niche building long-range fuel systems.

The tripling of aviation insurance costs following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks spurred Leahy to recast Bill Leahy Aviation as International Aerospace Solutions Inc., a worldwide aircraft delivery and consulting business, according to his widow.

His most prized client was Mission Aviation Fellowship, which in addition to flying missionaries provides a vital air transportation link in some of the hardest-to-reach places.

On his Web site, Leahy wrote, "I regard the flying that I do for Mission Aviation Fellowship as the most fulfilling part of my aviation experience, knowing that those aircraft will be operated by friends serving the physical and spiritual needs of countless less fortunate people around the world."

The fellowship was reeling Friday from news of Leahy's death, said David Rask, director of aviation resources.

"We've lost a very good friend and a partner in our ministry," Rask said. "He was a very outgoing and personable guy."

Family members said Leahy's abiding faith insulated him from fear on his often-dangerous travels. His mother said Bill tried to downplay the peril but couldn't stop her from learning that he had encountered gunfire from a rebel group on at least one long-distance trip over Africa.

Aside from his commitment to service, Leahy held strong views on politics and was excited by the longshot presidential campaign of maverick U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, said Susie Leahy. He posted frequently on Paul's Web site and jokingly referred to people who he felt lacked independent judgment as "lemmings."

At home, he was a loving father to his three children and often took them to fly radio-controlled airplanes near the Foster City home of his wife's parents. At night, he read to them from the same "Character Sketches" book he grew up with.

Jean Leahy said that when Bill's 9-year-old daughter Hannah learned Thursday night he wouldn't be coming home, she asked her mom to read to her from the book in his place.

Bill Leahy is survived by his widow Susie Leahy; his daughters Becky, 11, and Hannah, 9; his son William John Leahy III, 5; his mother Jean Leahy; his father William John Leahy Sr; his brother Michael Leahy; and his sister Susan Leahy.

Services are scheduled for Friday, Sept. 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Central Peninsula Church in Foster City.



E-mail Will Oremus at woremus@dailynewsgroup.com.