Announcement: Paulo Emanuele Killed In SMO Crash

moderators · Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:40 am

It is with deep regret that we announce that the head of the site, Paulo Emanuele, was killed in a plane crash here in Santa Monica just a short while ago.

From an executive at DM:

" ... Dear Airliners Crew,

It is with the deepest sorrow that I let you know Paulo died this evening in a tragic plane crash. His plane took off out of Santa Monica Airport at 5:00 PM and lost power. Paulo attempted to return to the airport, but the plane crashed on the runway. This is all we know at this time, as I hear more I will let you all know. I know many of you were dear friends with Paulo.

Paulo loved Airliners and everything it stood for.

Paulo was an amazing Pilot, an amazing photographer, an amazing friend, and an amazing father.

He will be deeply missed ... "

http://www.ktla.com/landing_topstori...onica=1&blockID=198373&feedID=1198

unattendedbag · Thu Jan 29, 2009 4:54 am

wow! Mine and Im sure everyone's deepest condolences and sympathy are with his family at this time. Very sad news.

andrewuber · Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:07 am

What horrible news - life is so incredibly fragile. RIP Paulo, we will be praying for you and your family.

NIKV69 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:22 am

Unbelievable.

Never met him but he sent my some nice PMs and was fair even when we didn't agree on something.

R.I.P.

Silver1SWA · Thu Jan 29, 2009 5:55 am

Wow...I am in shock right now.

Very sad... Sad

2H4 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:11 am

He did manage to upload a single photo before his final flight:

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Paulo Emanuele

I like his remark:

In the back ground lights you can see SMO's claim to fame - two of finest airport restaurants in the world: "Typhoon" and "The Hump"

If I ever make it to SMO, I'll be sure to visit one of those restaurants and raise a glass in his memory.

2H4

airkas1 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:35 am

Wow, that's pretty shocking news this early in the morning.. My condolances to his family.

Psych · Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:59 am

That's terrible news to wake up to - my deepest condolences to Paulo's family.

Paul

KMB · Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:25 am

Shocking news, Paulo will be missed - condolences to his family.

Kevin

xiphias · Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:26 am

WOW, shocking news so early in the morning. My condolences to his family and loved ones.

wilco737 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:34 am

Holy cow... This is sad news!

About 2 weeks I was in Los Angeles and met him in person. He was a great guy!

R.I.P. buddy!!

And all my thoughts and prayers are with his family!

This is his aircraft, did it happen in it?

View Large View Medium
Click here for bigger photo!

Photo © Wilco737

wilco737

[Edited 2009-01-29 00:36:58]

Cathay111 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:03 am

Wow, I don't know what to say........

I corresponded with Paulo on numerous occassions and found him a thoroughly decent gentleman. I am saddened by his loss. My thoughts are with his family, his friends and of course his colleagues including all here at airliners.net

There is no disputing he was passionate about this site and loved everything about it, even if it didn't work all of the time!

Farewell Paulo, it's nothing but blue skies for you now......

jid · Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:08 am

My condolences to his family and friends.

Who cares about site problem when you hear such sad new.

Jid

ZakHH · Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:17 am

This is very sad news, indeed. I can't say that my correspondence with him was always pleasant, but he sure was a true enthusiast who did what he did with a passion. My thoughts are with his family, and everyone who will miss him.

tombstone

aussie18 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 9:25 am

Sad news,Condolences to his family and friends.

YANQUI67 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:20 pm

This is so sad, my deepest condolences to all his family and friends. Life is so fragile.

seahawk · Thu Jan 29, 2009 12:46 pm

My most sincere condolences. A tragic loss for the aviation photography and spotting community.

Mr Spaceman · Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:27 pm

This is very sad. I'm in shock with disbelief!

My sympathies & condolences to his family & friends. You are in my thoughts.

Dear Paulo, you will be missed. “Wishing you God’s peace.”

Chris.

eksath · Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:45 pm

Wow.

Shocking!

I talked to him a few times over PM and I now regret never finishing our last conversation.

RIP.

Stil · Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:45 pm

I can hardly say anything but Rest In Peace, I'm shocked.
My condolences to all the people who knew him.
Take good A2A pictures from Heaven.

Stil

photopilot · Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:51 pm

I can't think of a more fitting tribute than the poem High flight, by Pilot/Officer John Gillespie Magee, Jr. written so many years ago.

In tribute to those with wings forever folded......
My Sympathies to the family.

=====================================================

High Flight
by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.

Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;

Sunward I've climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
Of sun-split clouds...and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of...wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov'ring there,
I've chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air.

Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I've topped the windswept heights with easy grace
Where never lark, or even eagle flew.

And, while with silent, lifting mind I've trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

Chukcha · Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:14 pm

Tragic news...

Rest in peace, Paulo.
My deepest condolences to the family and friends.

Andrei

dvincent · Thu Jan 29, 2009 2:19 pm

I am shocked. A very sad and ironic way to go. While I'm sure people here have had their disagreements with Paulo from time to time (myself included) he was passionate about what he did and I can only offer my sincere condolences to Paulo's family.

INNflight · Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:04 pm

Quoting 2H4 (Reply 5):
In the back ground lights you can see SMO's claim to fame - two of finest airport restaurants in the world: "Typhoon" and "The Hump"

I agree, the Typhoon is definitely among the nicest, perfect terrace.

Full props and tailwind for you Paolo.

mclaudio · Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:22 pm

So sad to read this...
My deepest condolences to Paulo's family.
I never had the pleasure of meeting him, but he sent me some PM's and he seemed such a nice fellow, always so positive.
Rest in Peace Paulo.

FYODOR · Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:28 pm

So sad news...

Rest in Peace.

Fyodor

4v8r · Thu Jan 29, 2009 3:44 pm

I feel like I am being choked even though I barely know the person. I send my deepest condolences to him and his family.

Thank you for all the work you have done in aviation and airliners.net. You are truly an aviator.

- 4v8r cry

javibi · Thu Jan 29, 2009 6:53 pm

R.I.P.

j

chuck9941 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:00 pm

Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 10):

Quoting WILCO737 (Reply 10):
Holy cow... This is sad news!

About 2 weeks I was in Los Angeles and met him in person. He was a great guy!

R.I.P. buddy!!

And all my thoughts and prayers are with his family!

This is his aircraft, did it happen in it?

From news reports here in LA it looks to be that aircraft. I never met Paulo, but I wouldn't doubt that there was a time when I crossed his path either spotting in the SoCal area or while flying around here in the basin.

As a fellow pilot and A.net'er I give my condolences to Paulo's family.

Plainplane · Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:02 pm

It is very tragic when somebody dies doing what they loved.

My condolences. crying

bustin · Thu Jan 29, 2009 7:57 pm

My deepest condolences to Paulo's family.

Bustin

skidmarks · Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:12 pm

Well, after all the aggravation over the migration of the servers, the glitches and the animosity he had to put up with, this is really sad. All I can say is he was doing what he loved and died doing it.

RIP and sincerest condolences to his family and friends.

Andy old

linco22 · Thu Jan 29, 2009 8:16 pm

Sad sad news. Rest In Peace Paulo, thoughts are with your friends and family.

Regards

Colin

eksath · Thu Jan 29, 2009 11:00 pm

Dear Paulo,

Thank you for all the hardwork you put in here! You last message to me did convince me of the humanity that works behind the scenes at airliners.net. I did not stop uploading. If I am to meet you in another life, I will finish our last conversation.

I am going to post one of your messages that shows what a decent guy you ARE.

2009-01-20 13:01:02

Hi Suresh
Your PM really hit me hard as I feel the same way you do. I'm actually a ball of nerves over the past 2 months as we try and unwind some really ugly code that was written in the early
days. I apologize from the bottom of my heart and wish only that you give us another chance. The site is actually working much better today after a code push yesterday evening. We feel confident that we have fixed the log out bug (upload issues) and a few more as well.

To answer your question: why people do this for nothing, I must say its for the love of aviation and photography and a bit of vanity and prestige. Well I sure hope we can keep you uploading on Anet..youare a treasured Photog.
My best,
Paulo

So long!

Suresh

Dehowie · Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:03 am

Terrible news when we lose any aeroplane.
Condolences to Paulo's family and friends for there massive loss.
Darren

Silver1SWA · Fri Jan 30, 2009 2:41 am

Quoting Eksath (Reply 33):
Thank you for all the hardwork you put in here! You last message to me did convince me of the humanity that works behind the scenes at airliners.net.

Paulo and I had a few exchanges by way of PM. When things got really ugly around here last year, I was a bit harsh with him. Needless to say, some of the early exchanges were not the most pleasant.

Back in October, I recieved a random PM from him expressing what a bummer it was that he didn't know we were both attending the same airshow and had we known, he would have loved to meet up. That right there showed me that despite our differences over the site and all the mishaps in the past, he welcomed the idea of meeting a fellow enthusiast. Unfortunately "next year for sure!" wont be a possibility. Sad

Quoting Jid (Reply 12):
Who cares about site problem when you hear such sad new.

Agreed. It's especially hard to accept that we will no longer be getting any updates from him.

Rest in Peace, Paulo....thoughts are with your family and friends.

alex1211 · Fri Jan 30, 2009 6:29 am

my condolence to his family and his friends, rest in peace

walter2222 · Fri Jan 30, 2009 10:36 am

I did not visit the site yesterday (because of sickness) and reading this after coming back to the site is shocking, really sad news!
My condolences to his family and friends, RIP

Walter

sulman · Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:03 am

Rest in Peace, I hope the family will be okay.

James

AussieAir · Fri Jan 30, 2009 1:11 pm

Very sad indeed my deepest sympathies to his family.
Dean

hamid747 · Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:19 pm

Hi dears. It is very tragic. I am so sorry for that. It is too strange that happened simultaneously with the CHALLENGER space shuttle explosion anniversary (28.1.1986) exactly.I am sure he is in the paradise now with the challenger crew.He served too much to aviation world and flying lovers.Best regards to him and his dear family. Sincerely yours HAMID

QANTAS077 · Fri Jan 30, 2009 8:47 pm

at least he died doing what he loved, not many of us get that opportunity, condolences to his family and friends for their loss.

ake0404ar · Fri Jan 30, 2009 9:06 pm

Quoting Eksath (Reply 33):
Thank you for all the hardwork you put in here! You last message to me did convince me of the humanity that works behind the scenes at airliners.net. I did not stop uploading

I am shocked and speechless.....don't know what to say and Suresh I can second that.

Not too long ago, we had a great telephone conversation about a.net, .....lastet over 1 hour. Talked about the past and even some ideas for the future.

Even though I have never met him in person, he seemed to be a great guy, he loved aviation and the new challenge at a.net, trying to make it work. He pushed thru some changes, which was not approved by everyone, but he had a goal => make the site even more successful than it was. The partnership with aviation week was just the beginning......

Very sad, this is a big loss for a.net.

My condolences go out to his friends and family

Vasco Garcia

[Edited 2009-01-30 13:15:10]

cpd · Fri Jan 30, 2009 11:40 pm

Sorry. My sympathies to his family and friends. Sad

codeshare · Sat Jan 31, 2009 2:15 pm

Paulo was totally dedicated to this site. R.I.P. Condolences to the family.

KS/codeshare

Sun Feb 01, 2009 2:51 pm

Been away for a few days and come back to tread this.
R.I.P Paolo, and thanks for all your work here and for putting up with us Anutters.

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