Video footage that was taken weeks before Roy Halladay crashed his airplane and died allegedly showed the former MLB pitcher flying close to the water and capturing the attention of some onlookers.
In the video, which was obtained by the New York Daily News, Halladay is reportedly shown diving up and down in his ICON A5. Bill Smith, the man who shot the footage, could be heard expressing concern to his wife about how “crazy low” Halladay was flying. Smith told the Daily News that he began recording because he thought the plane was in trouble and might have been about to crash.
“We were at the beach spending the afternoon relaxing out there and the plane caught our eye because it was flying so low,” Smith said. “We thought maybe it was crashing. I was concerned that it was going down and I was basically ready to jump in my boat and head out there.
“I didn’t know it was a seaplane and I thought it was in trouble because it was flying so near to the surface of the water. He would fly low and then rise up and go back down. Then all of a sudden he dove back down towards the water and I was thinking, ‘It’s going down.'”
Smith’s account is consistent with what others have said about Halladay. The Florida resident was not the only one who decided to record Halladay flying because he thought the flying pattern was unusual. One witness said Halladay was flying “aggressively” like that all week over the Gulf of Mexico.
Halladay was killed in the crash Tuesday at the age of 40. The crash is still under investigation, and Halladay’s family has been forced to defend the former Cy Young winner against allegations that he was being reckless.
