Memorial to a highflier: Friends mourn pilot who died at air show

Gainesville, FL — The roar of plane engines rose and fell outside the airplane hangar, sometimes drowning out the tearful words of one of the many family members or friends who approached the podium to speak about Eilon Krugman-Kadi.

Yet, the chorus of engine noise seemed an appropriate backdrop for the memorial service for the Gainesville attorney and pilot who died Friday in a tragic plane crash at a Titusville air show.

And it was just the way the family wanted it.

“They insisted,” said Krugman-Kadi’s longtime friend Mac McEachern of the family’s wish to have the memorial service in an airplane hangar at the Gainesville Regional Airport’s University Air Center.

More than 500 people crowded into the hangar Monday afternoon to pay their last respects to the flight enthusiast who seemed to make friends with everyone he met.

“Eilon was truly a treasure in our midst,” said Rabbi Berl Goldman of the Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Community Center in his eulogy for Krugman-Kadi.

Krugman-Kadi, 58, was flying his L-39 Albatross training fighter jet in the TICO Warbird Air Show in Titusville Friday when his plane plunged to the ground for unknown reasons around 2:45 p.m.

The Israeli-born Krugman-Kadi left behind a family that includes three children – Talia, 26, Shane, 25 and Hana, 3. Krugman-Kadi’s long-time companion Lynda McMullen, who is Hana’s mother; Krugman-Kadi’s ex-wife Susan; as well his mother, Aliza Krugman-Kadi; and his sister, Michal Arad, were also at the service Monday.

The entire family will be flying to Israel this morning to bury Krugman-Kadi near his father in Jerusalem at a famous Jewish burial site known as Har Menuchot, according to Goldman.

When Krugman-Kadi’s son, Shane, approached the microphone, he explained why the family chose the noisy locale for the memorial.

“I know this service is a little unconventional, but my father was a little unconventional and I think that’s why we all loved him,” he said.

Shane said his father always surprised him with his vast bank of knowledge, from cars to planes to finances to law.

He said his father was the ideal person he strived to become.

“He was our rock,” Shane said through tears. “He brought us all together and he was a great man.”

Numerous people spoke in remembrance of Krugman-Kadi, and the crowd of mourners included local judges, business people, pilots and friends from all walks of life. With each person approaching the microphone, it became apparent just how many people Krugman-Kadi had touched with his enthusiasm and intellect.

“Eilon lived 10 lifetimes while the rest of us only lived one,” said his former wife, Susan Krugman-Kadi.

Krugman-Kadi’s sister spoke in Hebrew at the service, and her son translated. She directed her words to Krugman-Kadi himself and ended with, “Have a good trip and wait for me up there because I’m going to be there someday,” she said. “And get the music ready.”

The service included a flyover in the “missing man” formation.

McEachern described the formation as a “solemn tribute to a fallen comrade.”

“I’m comforted with the knowledge he is now at peace in God’s air force and teaching angels to fly,” McEachern said to the crowd.

A fund has been established at the Lubavitch-Chabad Jewish Community Center in the pilot’s name, and Goldman said memorial contributions can be made to the Eilon Krugman-Kadi Memorial Education Fund.