a deadly mid-air collision in Clay
County tonight we're learning more about
the two men involved both with
distinguished military careers as pilots
David dollarhyde survived the crash you
see him here Robert Woolley was killed
no shock that was a shock now
investigators from the National
Transportation Safety Board are working
to figure out what went wrong this is
new video from dollar hives YouTube page
it shows him completing air combat
maneuvers people who know that the two
pilots say they like to fly in tandem
and that's now part of the investigation
if they were indeed doing that before a
deadly crash today sky 4 over the two
scenes of the crashes in Clay County won
in the open field the other in a wooded
area news from jacks reporter Eric Gagne
kicking off our team coverage from
Haller air park near Green Cove Springs
where both pilots live and where they
took off and Eric you've been speaking
with people who know both of these men
yes I have and I can tell you the mood
here is very somber many that's because
this is a community where everyone knows
each other and everyone we spoke with
both on and off camera knew both both
pilots it's also a place where pilots
can hop in their plane and take off down
a grassy runway right after pulling out
of their home this is the grassy runway
inside Haller Air Park where
investigators say pilot David dollar
high took off from sometime after take
off his plane collided with another
plane piloted by Robert Wooley dollar
height managed to land his plane several
miles away near the Clay County
Fairgrounds Woolies plane crashed in a
wooded area near the fairgrounds he
didn't survive the crash Joe tyranny is
also a pilot he says dollarhyde and
Wooley were his Hallett air park
neighbors their icons of our community
both have been here for many many years
and you know they're mentors to a lot of
us on the in the air park so it's it's
really a devastating loss Tierney also
says Wooley was a retired Air Force
fighter pilot who had so much passion
for aviation that he instructed many
pilots in the air park he also describes
wooley as a by-the-book kind of pilot
one of the most safety conscious guys
I've ever met
what is the fondest memory you have of
him Bob taught me how to do aerobatic
flight dollarhyde is a retired Navy
pilot whom Tierney describes as very
very experienced pilot probably the most
by-the-numbers by-the-book kind of guy
I've ever met
nearly everyone in this air park owns an
airplane and I'm told that Wednesday's
mid-air collision has sent shockwaves
through the entire community it's a
place where pilots can live with their
airplanes a dream that many many pilots
have a dream that has turned into a
nightmare
following a tragic mid-air collision
that has claimed the life of one beloved
neighbor and injured another
now Dollarhide suffered
non-life-threatening injuries meanwhile
I'm told that Woolley leaves behind a
wife what cost this fatal mid-air
collision remains under investigation
the NTSB is take a has taken over that
investigation reporting live near Green
Cove Springs Erika VA channel 4 the
local station and as Eric said both
pilots were accomplished in the air with
extensive experience at the controls and
we're learning more about the surviving
pilots past use for jacks caught up with
retired Navy pilot David Dollarhide back
in 2005 at Haller Air park in Green Cove
Springs where he and fellow pilots share
their passion for flying we originally
conceded Dreamland squadron as we were
looking for a place to fly airplanes and
then we bought this place here at Halla
air park and and kind of recreated our
Navy days Dollarhide is a retired Navy
pilot who flew in combat for the late
Senator John McCain this 2017 picture is
from the Cecil field Pio WMI a memorial
site that's the plane that crashed
landed today a dollar hide flew combat
missions in Vietnam off the aircraft
carrier USS Forrestal along with John
McCain and he was aboard the day of that
terrible explosion and fire that killed
dozens the squadron was based at Cecil
Field again dollarhyde is in the
hospital tonight with serious injuries
his friend and fellow pilot Robert
Willie was killed this morning when both
of their planes collided