luckiest Guy in the world or unluckiest Guy in the world?
 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/0..._n_884601.html

DETROIT (AP) -- A standout Indiana high school basketball player with the promise of playing at the University of Michigan is fighting for his life after surviving the second plane crash of his young life.

Austin Hatch, 16, of Fort Wayne, Ind., was in critical condition Saturday in a northern Michigan hospital after the Friday evening crash that killed his father, Dr. Stephen Hatch, and his stepmother, Kim. Austin and his pilot father had survived a 2003 crash that killed Austin's mother and two siblings.

The teen was "the apple of his dad's eye," and Stephen Hatch took great delight and pride in his son's athletic accomplishments, Dr. G. David Bojrab, a colleague and close friend of the father's, told The Associated Press.

Austin, a junior at Canterbury School in Fort Wayne, Ind., committed earlier this month to play basketball at Michigan, where his father and mother went to school.

He told the Journal Gazette of Fort Wayne for a story published last week that he talked to Michigan coach John Beilein by phone and accepted a full-ride scholarship. It was the first day that NCAA coaches could call recruits for the 2013 class, the newspaper said.

"It was a very special moment for me," Hatch told the newspaper. "There was no reason to wait. There's nothing I don't like about their program, and I couldn't turn it down."


Canterbury coach Dan Kline, who spoke with Michigan coaches before the offer, told the newspaper it was Austin's "dream" to play for Michigan.

"They didn't come right out and say it, but they told me he was a top priority in the state of Indiana," he said. "They kept dropping hints."

Bojrab said the Hatches were flying to their summer home on Walloon Lake in Michigan's northwestern Lower Peninsula, where Stephen Hatch and his brothers all owned property, when his single-engine plane flew into a garage near the Charlevoix Municipal Airport. It was the same home Stephen Hatch and the family were returning from nearly eight years ago when they crashed in Indiana.

"He was such a strong proponent of flying and teaching people to fly. ... I think he felt compelled to continue his passion," said Bojrab, a partner with Hatch in Pain Management Associates in Fort Wayne.

"He felt compelled to show people that accidents do happen. He didn't want people to look in the other direction."

A 2005 federal report on the September 2003 crash found inaccurate preflight planning resulted in the plane not having enough fuel. The National Transportation Safety Board determined a utility pole the airplane hit during its forced landing, a low ceiling and dark night also contributed to the crash.

Bojrab said his friend disputed the report's findings, believing equipment failure caused the crash.

"When he crashed, it was an inferno, which makes you wonder how he could have been out of gas," Bojrab said.

Hatch saved Austin, but his other children -- Lindsay, 11, and Ian, 5 -- died along with his wife, Julie, 38.

"His wife and two children were in flames and he was never able to reach them," Bojrab said. "Steve reached over to his son who was sitting in front with him and tossed him out the window to save his life."

Beilein said in a statement that the university was saddened to hear about the tragedy affecting the Hatches. "Austin needs as much support right now as possible and I know he will be in the thoughts and prayers of the Michigan family during this difficult time," he said.

Canterbury School said in a statement it released Saturday to "keep Austin and his family in your thoughts and prayers."

Bojrab said Stephen Hatch had planned to go to Spain to celebrate his parents' 50th wedding anniversary with the rest of his family, but canceled the trip to spend time with Austin and his adult stepchildren.

"Steve was a very big family man," Bojrab said.

Another of his passions was Smith Field Airport, a small, historic airport near Fort Wayne. Bojrab said Hatch led a campaign several years ago to save it and bought the Smith Field Service Center and its flight school.

"He saved the property from being developed commercially," Bojrab said, adding that Hatch was instrumental in getting it on the National Register of Historic Places.

NTSB spokesman Keith Holloway said investigators were on the scene Saturday and would be examining the aircraft, interviewing witnesses and requesting air traffic control communications and radar data. He expected a preliminary report within 10 days and a final report determining a cause within 18 months.

i think that guy should stick to commercial flying

Unluckiest. Seeing as his dad has managed to wipe out the rest of his family, twice.

jesus is that a tragic story. idiot father, what's so important about flying - let the professionals do it. call it a tragic act of fate but the father put his family's lives in his hands and he failed miserably - twice.

find another fucking hobby that doesn't kill your children and wives like tennis, golf, camping, etc - too late now sadly.

I'm not reading that ...

Sounds like he was an incompetent pilot. Shame he made his family pay the price for his "passion."

they let anyone fly if you have enough money.. there's a reason they only recruit navy and air force pilots for commercial flying...

he had 2 crashes or i got it wrong?

What an idiot father.

I think he was unlucky to have the father he had. BTW, I don't know what kind of airplane he was flying, but the Beechcraft Bonanza is known as "The Doctor Killer".

Wow I'm amazed the father would take to the skies again after the first crash, how tragic!

On 3 February 1959, Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, The Big Bopper, as well as the pilot Roger Peterson died when their Beechcraft B35 Bonanza, registration N3794N, crashed shortly after takeoff, at night and in bad weather. This accident has become known as The Day the Music Died.
On July 31, 1964, country music star Jim Reeves and his pianist Dean Manuel died when the Beechcraft Debonair Jim was piloting crashed in the Brentwood area of Nashville during a violent thunderstorm. The wreckage and bodies were discovered on 2 August 1964 amid dense foliage in a wooded area just off Baxter Lane next to US Interstate 65.
In February 1981, Apple Computer cofounder Steve Wozniak crashed his Beechcraft Bonanza while taking off from Santa Cruz Sky Park. The NTSB investigation revealed Wozniak did not have a "high performance" endorsement (making him legally unqualified to operate the airplane) and had a "lack of familiarity with the aircraft." The cause of the crash was determined to be a premature liftoff, followed by a stall and "mush" into a 12-foot embankment. Wozniak later made a full recovery, albeit with a case of temporary retrograde amnesia.
On 19 March 1982, Ozzy Osbourne guitarist Randy Rhoads was killed when the wing of the Bonanza F35 he was riding in clipped Ozzy's tour bus and crashed into a nearby mansion garage. The pilot and another passenger were also killed.[15]
On 13 March 2006, game show host Peter Tomarken crashed his Bonanza A36 into Santa Monica Bay during climb-out from the Santa Monica Airport in California. He was en route to San Diego to pick up a cancer patient who needed transportation to UCLA Medical Center for treatment. Tomarken and his wife were killed in the crash.