HAMBURG, N.Y. – On a bright and sunny fall day, Kevin D'Angelo taxis his plane to the runway at Hamburg Airport, ready to take off when given the OK. The Searey experimental aircraft resembles a shark, its toothy grin smiling as it takes to the skies.
Hard to believe that just 1 year ago, D'Angelo had to crash land the plane in Alden after a mid-air collision with a Cessna 172 during an aviation event at the Buffalo Lancaster Airport.
"I never ever would have dreamed I'd be involved in a mid air collision. It's a big sky out there. It's hard to be involved in something like that,” D’Angelo remarked.
D'Angelo was on his second Young Eagles flight of the day with a 9-year-old girl, traveling westbound. He says the Cessna - piloted by 78-year-old Anthony Mercurio - struck him from above and behind, and cut his tail in half. He managed to make an emergency landing at 80 miles per hour. Both escaped unscathed. The Cessna spiraled and crashed nose-first into a field in Lancaster, killing Mercuio and his passenger, 14-year-old James Metz.
"Everyone had the same pattern. That's why we had the same position. Unfortunately we may never find out why he didn't see me,” explained D’Angelo.
After the accident, D'Angelo had the Searey rebuilt, and continues to fly it as often as he can for recreation and Young Eagles events. He also pilots for Wings Flights of Hope, and has kept in contact with his young passenger from that fateful day.
While he tells us the events of September 27, 2014 may have made him a bit more sensitive while in the air, D'Angelo said it does not stifle his passion for aviation.
He commented, "I feel bad that the accident might have brought out a bunch of fears in people... but I hope that people move on and realize it's a very safe activity."
A mentality he takes with him as he soars above Western New York and beyond.
"Everything we do in life has a risk, you can either sit in a bubble, or you can keep on going,” he said.