Former Phillie pitcher Roy Halladay picked up plane in Bay Area before crash
HOLIDAY, Florida -- The NTSB is now leading the investigation into what caused former Major League Baseball player Roy Halliday's small plane to crash, killing him Tuesday.
RELATED: Former Philadelphia Phillie Roy Halladay killed in plane crash
Halladay picked up the plane from the Bay Area less than a month ago.
Flying was one of Halladay's passions. It was one he could finally pursue after retiring from baseball in 2013.
The eight-time allstar and two-time Cy Young Award winner played 16 seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies.
Authorities found his A-5 upside down Tuesday, 10 miles west of St. Petersburg, Florida in the Gulf of Mexico.
"We know Roy as a person, as a caring husband who loved his wife, Brandy, and he loved his two boys tremendously," said Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco.
ICON released a statement Tuesday night saying, "We have gotten to know Roy and his family in recent months. He was a great advocate and friend of ours... ICON will do everything it can to support the accident investigation going forward."
RELATED: 2 killed in plane crash near Lake Berryressa
In May, another ICON A-5 crashed near Lake Berryessa. Two ICON employees, a test pilot, and a designer died.
The NTSB concluded that pilot error caused that crash.
"They make it nice and big like the spedomoeter in your car," said pilot Christlyn Repp, who flew the A-5 just last week. ICON is located near Nut Tree Airport, where Repp works.
"It was fun. Got to land in the lake at Berryessa a few times," she said.
The A-5 costs $389,000. The wait list for the aircraft continues to grow.
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