Pilot on board deadly Virginia plane crash also from Central Florida

Pilot in Virginia plane crash from Florida

The pilot on board Sunday’s deadly plane crash in Virginia called the Space Coast home. Four people were on board the private aircraft when it lost communication with air support and crashed in a wooded area. F-16 jets were trying to intercept and make contact with the plane when it was flying near Washington D.C. While their efforts were unsuccessful, the military pilots said they saw the pilot slumped over before it went down.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – - The pilot on board Sunday’s deadly plane crash in Virginia called the Space Coast home.

Four people were on board the private aircraft when it lost communication with air support and crashed in a wooded area. F-16 jets were trying to intercept and make contact with the plane when it was flying near Washington D.C. While their efforts were unsuccessful, the military pilots said they saw the pilot slumped over before it went down.

Records show the pilot was Jeff Hefner who called Satellite Beach home and was a well-respected flight captain.

With no survivors, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is removing the plane and trying to figure out what could have caused the crash.

FOX 35 News confirmed Hefner also flew for Dan Newlin Injury Attorneys in the past. In a statement sent to FOX 35, Newlin said Hefner was "a highly accomplished and skilled aviator, he flew 25 years as a captain with Southwest Airlines and had over 25,000 flight hours." 

Newlin also said that "after retiring from Southwest Airlines, Jeff went on to be certified as a captain in numerous private aircraft."

Newlin said Hefner is survived by his wife and three children. Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey is also sending support for John and Barbara Rumpel who are proud supporters of local and national NRA chapters and own a local memory care facility in Melbourne. The plane was registered to John, and the couple lost their daughter, granddaughter, and a nanny in the crash.

"I’ve had a chance to talk with both of them and obviously, they’re devastated. It was very early on when I spoke with them," Ivey said. "They were still actually trying to get to the wreckage at the time that I was talking with them."

With so many unknowns in the crash, support is flooding in for families left behind.

"It’s tragic for this to happen anymore. It brings it a little more personal, closer to home when you know them personally," Ivey concluded.

The NTSB said the investigation of the crash could take up to two years, and they’re looking for anything that will give some insight into what went wrong.