Fredrick "Fredd" Baber and his wife Janice.

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

The pilot killed when a small plane crashed just off the Saratoga County Airport runway has been identified as a Florida man and proud US Marine Corps veteran who shared his love of aviation and service with others.

Fredrick “Fredd” Baber, 58, of Port Charlotte, Florida, was piloting the single-engine plane when it went down at about 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 31, moments after takeoff, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office.

The aircraft struck a tree before crashing in the driveway of a home on Wyndham Way, a quiet cul-de-sac in Ballston Spa that backs up to the airport.

A passenger, Alexander Hoff, 39, of Hollis, New Hampshire, was seriously injured and remains hospitalized at Albany Medical Center, police said. Nobody inside the home was injured.

Facebook/East Coast Aero Club, Inc.

Friday’s Halloween crash occurred as strong winds swept through the area, shortly before a National Weather Service advisory warned of gusts up to 50 mph. The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

The plane was already on fire when emergency crews arrived. Baber remained trapped inside the burning cockpit, while Hoff — who had been ejected — was crawling from the wreckage. Residents pulled him to safety and stayed with him until first responders arrived.

Baber, an IT project manager at Cigna Healthcare and a graduate of Western New England College, was a US Marine veteran who reminisced about his service in a Facebook post just a week before his death.

“Forty years ago TODAY, I stood on these footprints, getting screamed at for just breathing,” Baber wrote of his experience at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. “Hardest thing I had ever done but was damn proud to complete the training and claim the title of United States Marine.”

Baber is survived by his wife, Janice Baber, two children, and two stepchildren.

Passenger Alexander Hoff — who earned his Certified Flight Instructor-Instrument rating (CFII) in May, according to a post from the East Coast Aero Club — remains in serious condition.