A FALLEN WARBIRD: In the wake of tragedy, Destin pilot upset by ‘backlash' as he mourns Birmingham doctor (with RECOVERY PHOTOS)

Five World War II era planes took to the skies over Topsail Hill Preserve State Park on Saturday for a routine flight, but only four Warbirds returned home.

Dr. Herman Evan Zeiger Jr. of Birmingham was piloting the fifth, an AT-6 Texan. His wife, Peggy, was in the passenger seat, according to fellow pilots. The couple lost their lives when the plane crashed into the Gulf at about 12:30 p.m.

“Nobody knows what happened because he was behind us,” said Charles DuPlantis, who was piloting one of the planes flying with Zeiger. “We were flying in a trail, one behind the other, about 2,000 feet apart.”

Phillip McDonald of Destin watched the warbirds flying in formation that day from his YOLO board. He said after seeing the group fly by, Zeiger’s bird stayed behind to perform some stunts. McDonald watched him do a loop in the air moments before the crash.

“It was so quick,” McDonald said. “If you blinked, you would have missed it. It looked like he was coming out of the loop and didn’t pull up in time. He hit so fast and so hard. A pretty huge plume of water shot up, and the plane disappeared.”

DuPlantis, the owner of Boogies Watersports, got his first clue that something was wrong when Zeiger didn’t join up with the rest of the group. After a few minutes of searching, he saw an oil slick on the water and made a distress a call.

“We circled around a couple of minutes later, but it was already under water,” DuPlantis said. “Everybody was flying safe, doing what we’re trained to do, fly formation. A thousand things could have happened. All I know is it’s a tragic thing that happened.”

The cause of the crash has yet to be determined. The wreckage was pulled from the Gulf on Monday, and the National Transportation Safety Board is investigating. To see photos of the plane after it was recovered, click here.

A preliminary report on the cause of the accident should be ready in 10 days.

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To see photos of the formation flying moments before the crash, click here.

Click to view a photo gallery of the crash scene »

To read a story about the victim, click here.

To read the original crash story, click here.

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DuPlantis, a member of the group called the Destin Warbirds, had flown with Zeiger several times before, and he said the neurosurgeon and his wife were “great people.” He went on to say that Zeiger was very knowledgeable about the aircraft he was piloting.

“He was a great pilot, and he loved to fly,” DuPlantis said. “He was just a really upstanding, good guy.”
DuPlantis said he’s been upset by comments he’s heard in the wake of the tragedy which insinuate that the warbirds are dangerous. He said almost all the pilots are trained commercial or instrument rated pilots and all their flights are legal and safe.

Okaloosa Airports Director Greg Donovan said that once an aircraft leaves the ground, it’s under federal jurisdiction. He said that the Federal Aviation Administration has a “very heavy inspection and regulatory process” that assures the safety of planes in the air.

“That’s been the hardest thing, the backlash,” DuPlantis said. “Myself and the other guys that were flying did nothing wrong and nothing unsafe. It’s no more dangerous doing what we do than driving down Highway 98 everyday.”

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BACKGROUND

The shows have become a familiar sight and sound in Destin.

But they have alson been a source of controversy with some residents and visitors complaining about the noise and safety of the formation flying.

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Log photographer Kathy Harrison went up in a T-6 in 2007. To see a video from the cockpit that flight, click here. To see photos from that 2007 flight, click here.