On Tuesday, retired MLB ace pitcher Roy Halladay died when his new ICON A5 single-engine aircraft crashed into the Gulf of Mexico off Florida. Halladay had always wanted to be a pilot but couldn't get his license until he retired from pro baseball in 2013. The ICON A5 is made for entry-level pilots, The Associated Press reports, and there are only about 20 of the models in existence. Hallady isn't the only person who has died while flying the A5, AP notes:
The man who led the plane's design, 55-year-old John Murray Karkow, died while flying an A5 over California's Lake Berryessa on May 8, in a crash the National Transportation Safety Board blamed on pilot error. The NTSB will also investigate Halladay's crash to determine the cause. [AP]
Cagri Sever, ICON's newly hired director of engineering, also died in Karkow's crash. The A5 is an amphibious plane that can take off from the water and be towed with its wings folded. Halladay was obviously fond of the plane:
In April, another pilot made a hard water landing with his A5 off Key Largo, telling investigators that the plane came down faster than he'd expected.
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