Pitching great Roy Halladay dies in plane crash in Gulf of Mexico

Former Major League Baseball pitcher Roy “Doc” Halladay died in a plane crash Tuesday afternoon.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office announced he died after his Icon A5 aircraft crashed into the Gulf of Mexico, a quarter mile west of Ben Pilot Point in New Port Richey. According to Halladay’s Twitter account, he bought the plane less than a month ago.

On Oct. 13, he tweeted that he had dreamed of owning the A5 ever since he retired.

Halladay, 40, was the only passenger in the two-seater plane, single engine amphibian plane, according to the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office. He was a lover of planes and flew often, Sheriff Chris Nocco said.

“Being a pilot and flying planes, that was his passion. He would talk about it — about refurbishing planes and he had family that was involved in flying,” said Nocco.

A resident reported the plane crash around 12:06 p.m., according to a release. FWC, Pasco Fire Rescue and the Coast Guard assisted in recovery efforts along with the sheriff’s office.

A mayday call was not reported to Tampa Air Traffic Control. The crash is the result of an apparent malfunction, witnesses said.

Leslie Southard saw Halladay’s plane before the fatal crash and reported that smoke could be seen coming out of the plane’s engine. She told Bay News 9 that the plane was “flying really low and you could tell it was going down.”

"From my house to the top of the trees, (the plane) went past a little ways over the trees, hung a left and then tilted to the left into the water," said Michael Lennon, another witness.

The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office declined to confirm details about Halladay’s flight path. The National Transportation Safety Board will take over the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.

Halladay pitched in the MLB for 16 years, winning 203 games and losing 105.

Among his many accolades and accomplishments as a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Toronto Blue Jays was his no hitter in the 2010 Major League playoffs. He was an 8x All-Star and a two-time winner of the Cy Young Award given to the league’s best pitchers.

Halladay retired from the MLB in 2013 and will become eligible to enter the league’s Hall of Fame in 2018.

Nocco said that Halladay was a beloved member of the Pasco community and a “down to earth” person.

“He was a part of our sheriff’s office. His kids went to school with some of our kids,” Nocco said. “He was there whenever we needed him. He was probably one of the most humble human beings you’ll ever meet.”

The crash is pending further investigation.

This story was originally published November 7, 2017 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Pitching great Roy Halladay dies in plane crash in Gulf of Mexico."