Pilot Fatally Injured Flying Restored Aircraft He Had Recently Purchased

The pilot of a restored Hawker Sea Fury ISS-25 was fatally injured Tuesday when the airplane went down near Stephens County Airport in Breckenridge, TX.

The pilot, identified as Ray Hoffman, had recently purchased the airplane, according to a news release from the Texas State Police. Television station KOSA reports that Hoffman, the president and CEO of Midland, TX-based Peak Completions Technologies ... an oilfield services company ... had been interested in classic warbirds since he was a child, having had posters of CAF aircraft on the walls of his bedroom.

The Sea Fury went down in a wooded area near Stephens County Airport, and Hoffman was declared dead at the scene. The Texas State Police said in the news release that Hoffman "was training with a newly purchased aircraft. The pilot experienced a problem with handling causing the plane to nose dive and crash into a heavily wooded area.”

The station reports that Hoffman, 38, was known as a "thrill seeker" who "died doing what he loved."

FMI: www.ntsb.gov