Former Olympian, Pat Porter, his 15-year-old son and his son's friend died in a plane crash in Sedona, Arizona on Thursday.
Porter, of Albuquerque, New Mexico was piloting the plane when it crashed and burst into flames when it went off of the runway at Sedona Airport on Thursday morning. The crash killed all three people on board, including two-time Olympian Pat Porter and his son, his wife Trish Porter confirmed.
Porter, 53, was an eight-time U.S. cross country runner. He participated in the 10,000 meter race at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and the 1988 Summer Games in Seoul, South Korea.
At a news conference Trish Porter said her family went to Sedona for three days before the crash occurred. She had been exchanging text messages with him shortly before the crash.
"My last text message to him: 'When are you coming home?' " she said at the news conference, as quoted by The Associated Press.
Trish Porter is also a former Olympian. She was on her way home from picking up her daughter Shannon from ice skating training when she found out about the crash. There are not many details about what happened exactly.
Porter met high jumper Trish King at a pre-Olympic training camp for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They got married in 1991 and moved to Albuquerque in 1994.
"He made me laugh," Trish Porter said. "He was just a lot of fun."
The track star was just indicted into the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Hall of Fame.
His son, Connor Porter, who was also killed in the crash was an athlete himself as he was nationally ranked in fencing. He and his friend Connor Mantsch were about to enter their freshman year at Albuquerque Academy.
One pilot, Stephen Loftin told the Examiner that there are certain challenges involved with flying at the Sedona Airport. "You always have gusts here. Updrafts, downdrafts, it's just a predicament, all pilots have that taking off and landing here," Loftin said.
Both the FAA and the NTSB are investigating this fatal aircraft accident.
Porter is survived by his wife, Trish, and their daughter, Shannon.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
