The family of a pilot who died in a small plane crash that killed three people in Big Bear is remembering him as a loving husband and father with a penchant for adventure.
Sixty-year-old Temecula resident Stormie Siebold died along with two friends Monday afternoon after their plane went down in the area of Paradise Way and Maltby Boulevard, about a mile from Big Bear Airport.
"He would tell me all the time that I am everything to him and he doesn't want to live a day without me, and we talked about when we would die because we would go together because we didn't want to be without each other,” a heartbroken Kay Siebold said about her late husband.
She said that Stormie Siebold flew his single-engine Beechcraft A36 from French Valley Airport with a friend. They then picked up another friend at Corona Municipal Airport so all three could fly to Big Bear to look at a plane that was for sale.
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For some unknown reason, the plane crashed about a quarter mile away from the airport, killing all three men.
Kay Siebold said her husband had flown for at least 25 years and was always prepared for any type of air emergency.
"He would literally go out and fly in windy days by himself and bad weather just so he would get better at it and know how to land if the wind was blowing a certain way. He always wanted to be the best at everything he did,” Kay Siebold said.
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As federal investigators search for a cause of the crash – an investigation that could take weeks or months – family members are focusing on all the wonderful times they had together with a man who loved adventure, but most importantly loved his wife and family.
"You will forever be in our hearts. Thank you for giving me 35 years,” Kay Siebold said.
