STARKE, Fla. — A tragic accident claimed the life of a small acrobatic plane pilot on Saturday morning at Keystone Heights Airport in Starke, as reported by Bradford County Sheriff Gordon Smith.

The pilot, identified by the Florida Highway Patrol as a 46-year-old resident of St. Augustine, was performing aerial maneuvers when the unfortunate crash happened, according to a Bradford County Fire Rescue spokesperson.

Sheriff Smith mentioned that the incident took place at the Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park (FIRM), which is adjacent to the airport. During the time of the crash, the 11th annual Krawl’n For The Fallen event, which pays tribute to fallen police officers and K-9s, was underway at FIRM.

Following the crash, a fire erupted, which Bradford County Fire Rescue successfully extinguished.

The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office has advised drivers to steer clear of the vicinity of State Road 100 South near the airport due to the ongoing situation.

According to the fire department and sheriff’s office, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) have been notified about the crash and are investigating it along with Florida Highway Patrol.

“It remains unclear at this time as to what caused the airplane to crash,” FHP said in a release.

Organizers with Krawl’n For The Fallen told First Coast News they were a little shaken up and some of their guests were shaken up, but they said the pilot’s flight wasn’t a part of the event and shouldn’t interfere with their operation for the rest of the weekend.

They weren’t the only witnesses, as one pilot who has been flying out of Keystone Heights Airport for years said he has never seen anything quite like this.

“It’s just common noise to hear them up there practicing,” David Nickels said.

Nickels says Keystone Heights Airport features an aerobatic practice area, so he’s used to seeing pilots test out their stunts while he works on planes in the hangars.

But then he heard something that wasn’t just “common noise.”

“It sounded like they may have been shooting something off at Camp Blanding,” he said.

When he turned around, he quickly realized that noise came from a lot closer than Camp Blanding, as he took a picture of the massive plume of smoke rising from the middle of the airfield.

“I’ve been a tenant at this airport for over 20 years, and this has never happened,” Nickels said.

Within minutes, first responders were on the scene, but Florida Highway Patrol reports the 46-year-old pilot from St. Augustine was killed in the crash.

The agency is still investigating what happened to cause the single-engine plane to crash and said they’ve notified his next of kin.

“It’s very disturbing,” Nickels said. “You think about the family members and the grief they’re going through.”

State troopers did not immediately identify the pilot by name, but the group Goulian Racing shared a statement, saying: 

“[The pilot] was a much loved part of our racing team from 2016 – 2019. When we stopped racing in 2019, [the pilot] focused his efforts on running his own business based in Palatka. So he has not been on our team since 2019.

However, he remained a very close friend and we are all very devastated by this tragedy.”