Pilots' deaths in crash has friends reeling

Bob Baker's voice quivers at the thought of Steve Hildebrand's final flight.

He said he simply couldn't believe his good friend died doing what he loved.

Hildebrand was one of the victims of Monday's single-engine plane crash in a 450-acre conservation area near Ackman and Randall roads in Crystal Lake.

The other flier on Hildebrand's plane, David Burdine, 51, was a Barrington father and retired Navy commander who had been a Top Gun flight instructor at Meridien, Miss.

While Burdine was a career flier, there was no question flying also was a passion for Hildebrand, a 49-year-old former Trout Valley resident.

After taking lessons four years ago, Hildebrand spent his mother's inheritance money to buy the navy blue Yakolev 52 he flew for fun, Baker said.

Hildebrand recently wowed friends during a Fourth of July party in the tiny McHenry County village by doing a fly-over with two of his sons in tow.

And any mention of flying wasn't far from Hildebrand's lips.

"He and another friend of ours would always go to these air shows in Oshkosh (Wis.)," Baker said. "He'd always come back telling me about the speakers he met."

It wasn't clear who was flying the plane when it crashed on takeoff shortly before 2 p.m. Monday.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board are looking into the crash.

An FAA spokeswoman wouldn't comment Tuesday on the crash, except to say that "it will be under investigation for quite some time."

Calls placed at the North Central Regional office of the NTSB in West Chicago weren't returned.

Meanwhile, friends and family members of both passengers were still reeling from the news.

Baker, village president of Trout Valley, said he has fielded dozens of phone calls from community members who wanted to know more.

Friends have set up two trusts at the Harris Bank in Cary for his family, and a memorial service for Hildebrand will take place Thursday at a church in Huntley.

"Steve was the type of person you knew you could count on when you needed help," Baker said. "And now the phone is ringing off the hook with people who want to help him."

Burdine was recalled in similar fashion by his friends.

Bob Hurrie of Huntley had a hard time believing what had happened when he learned Burdine was aboard the downed plane.

Just a year ago, Hurrie took a special birthday flight aboard an acrobatic military plane courtesy of his children and grandchildren. And Burdine was the instructor.

"He was without a doubt, just a class act," Hurrie said. "He had a military bearing, composure and the look of a leader."

And, most important to a very nervous Hurrie on his maiden acrobatic flight, Burdine was incredibly reassuring.

"There was a man who, if the wing goes off and flames are coming out of the engines, you know we're going to get this thing down, you never have any question," Hurrie said.

Burdine also was kind enough to donate a flight to help Hurrie's fundraising auction efforts for Huntley Unit District 158 last year.

"He had the air and bearing of what you'd expect from an officer and a gentleman," Hurrie said.

Details concerning any memorial service planned for Burdine weren't immediately available.

The memorial services for Hildebrand will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday at Faith Community Church, 10547 Faiths Way Road in Huntley.