More detail on this person: I'm his oldest daughter. I was 10 when he died. At the time of his
death, he was a young but prominent attorney in Rochester, NY. He had opened his own firm a couple
of years before he died. He also owned his own small plane (twin engine prop) and used it to
operate a small company, Ambiar. I believe it was a medical transport company that helped transport
organs for patients awaiting transplants. He was also a member of the National Ski Patrol in Lake
Placid, worked the 1979 World Cup and 1980 Winter Olympic Games, and was an avid sailor. His
father (my grandfather) was an instructor at the Merchant Marine Academy. He grew up on the water.
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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Date posted on this site:
01/11/2025
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He was flying our plane from Lake Placid, where we had a home, to Islip for what was supposed to be
routine maintenance. Someone taxied onto the runway after he was given clearance to land and he had
to make a late maneuver to try to circle back around. Both engines of the twin engine plan cut out.
After much investigation it was determined that the pitch the plane needed to take resulted in the
fuel from both engines draining (one, then the other). Both engines stalled and he free fell.
There happened to be another former military person on the ground who witnessed it and provided
important testimony to help prove it was a defect in the plane rather than pilot error.
Fron: Lara Litchfield-Kimber