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Alpine Air Crash near Great Falls, MT
- Thread starter qxpilot
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FN FAL
Freight Dawgs Rule
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Local
[size=+3]Fallen pilots remembered[/size]
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[font=arial,helvetica,helv,swiss]Larry Baier, 53, one of two Kalispell men who died when their mail plane crashed Tuesday night in the Little Belt Mountains, loved flying and teaching people to fly, according to his family.
"He taught a lot of people in this valley how to fly," said Angela Baier, who is married to Baier's son Jesse, 29, also of Kalispell. "It was just something he loved to do."
Larry Baier also is survived by his wife, Catherine, of Kalispell; daughter Sara, 26, of Melbourne, Fla.; and sons Kace, 13, and Dakota, 11, of Kalispell.
Larry Baier's co-pilot on Tuesday, Scott Kiral, was once his student. The two had formed a strong friendship that had lasted for years, Angela Baier said.
Baier, a flight instructor for about 26 of the 30 years he had been a pilot, liked to do "fun-filled" things, Angela Baier said.
In addition to flying, he and son Jesse owned Applied Explosives, a local blasting contracting firm that operates statewide.
Larry Baier was teaching his son to fly.
"Dad and Jesse were working on getting" Jesse Baier a pilot's license, Angela Baier said.
Kiral, in his 30s, worked for Installation Technologies in Kalispell.
Owner Butch Keith described Kiral as "one of a kind."
A husband and stepfather, Kiral was "very intelligent" and capable of flying a plane, driving a water truck, fighting fires, building a computer and working on computer networks, Keith said.
He said Kiral also worked for Coldwell Banker from 2002-04.
The two men had been flying from Billings to Kalispell in a twin-engine Beech 99 airplane loaded with mail when the aircraft went down near the top of Big Baldy Mountain, about 40 miles southeast of Great Falls.
Baier had been flying the mail route for five years for Alpine Air Express, a Utah-based U.S. Postal Service contractor.
The accident is still being investigated, but initial reports said neither man had reported any trouble, and the plane's emergency locator beacon did not transmit a signal.
The first-class and priority mail on the plane was bound for ZIP codes that begin with 599, which covers Flathead and Lincoln counties. If any of the mail is salvageable, it will be released after the National Transportation Safety Board finishes its investigation, according to Ted Blazina, manager of marketing for the Montana district of the U.S. Postal Service
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[size=+3]Fallen pilots remembered[/size]
[font=arial,helvetica,helv,swiss]
[font=arial,helvetica,helv,swiss]Larry Baier, 53, one of two Kalispell men who died when their mail plane crashed Tuesday night in the Little Belt Mountains, loved flying and teaching people to fly, according to his family.
"He taught a lot of people in this valley how to fly," said Angela Baier, who is married to Baier's son Jesse, 29, also of Kalispell. "It was just something he loved to do."
Larry Baier also is survived by his wife, Catherine, of Kalispell; daughter Sara, 26, of Melbourne, Fla.; and sons Kace, 13, and Dakota, 11, of Kalispell.
Larry Baier's co-pilot on Tuesday, Scott Kiral, was once his student. The two had formed a strong friendship that had lasted for years, Angela Baier said.
Baier, a flight instructor for about 26 of the 30 years he had been a pilot, liked to do "fun-filled" things, Angela Baier said.
In addition to flying, he and son Jesse owned Applied Explosives, a local blasting contracting firm that operates statewide.
Larry Baier was teaching his son to fly.
"Dad and Jesse were working on getting" Jesse Baier a pilot's license, Angela Baier said.
Kiral, in his 30s, worked for Installation Technologies in Kalispell.
Owner Butch Keith described Kiral as "one of a kind."
A husband and stepfather, Kiral was "very intelligent" and capable of flying a plane, driving a water truck, fighting fires, building a computer and working on computer networks, Keith said.
He said Kiral also worked for Coldwell Banker from 2002-04.
The two men had been flying from Billings to Kalispell in a twin-engine Beech 99 airplane loaded with mail when the aircraft went down near the top of Big Baldy Mountain, about 40 miles southeast of Great Falls.
Baier had been flying the mail route for five years for Alpine Air Express, a Utah-based U.S. Postal Service contractor.
The accident is still being investigated, but initial reports said neither man had reported any trouble, and the plane's emergency locator beacon did not transmit a signal.
The first-class and priority mail on the plane was bound for ZIP codes that begin with 599, which covers Flathead and Lincoln counties. If any of the mail is salvageable, it will be released after the National Transportation Safety Board finishes its investigation, according to Ted Blazina, manager of marketing for the Montana district of the U.S. Postal Service
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Flyingdutchman
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2002
- Posts
- 1,571
Larry was by far the best friend I ever had in aviation. He has been a role model and a mentor to me and it still hasn't settled in that he is no longer with us. My first flight was with Larry at the age of 14 and nearly half my flight time has been with him, in my training and also at Alpine.
He is the most giving man I've ever met, his goal in life it seemed was to pass his amazing variety of avation experience (floats, skiis, gliders, aerobatics, etc) onto his students. He didn't teach to build time (he had loads of hours and didn't plan on finding that amazing job that so many of us are looking for), he taught because he loved seeing his students grow, I have experienced this first hand.
Larry will be missed by many and his loss has left a giant void in my life as I'm sure it will in so many others.
I never had the chance to meet Scott and wish I could post something about him but I'll leave that opportunity for those who knew him. It's terrible that things turned out this way. It's a hard lesson that it can happen to the best of us and I wish you all safe flying.
He is the most giving man I've ever met, his goal in life it seemed was to pass his amazing variety of avation experience (floats, skiis, gliders, aerobatics, etc) onto his students. He didn't teach to build time (he had loads of hours and didn't plan on finding that amazing job that so many of us are looking for), he taught because he loved seeing his students grow, I have experienced this first hand.
Larry will be missed by many and his loss has left a giant void in my life as I'm sure it will in so many others.
I never had the chance to meet Scott and wish I could post something about him but I'll leave that opportunity for those who knew him. It's terrible that things turned out this way. It's a hard lesson that it can happen to the best of us and I wish you all safe flying.
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