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Suffolk Pilot Had Passion for Flight From the First Time

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

By Janette Rodrigues, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Jun. 6--SUFFOLK -- Michael "Wayne" Kiser was a newly married man the first time he went up in an airplane 35 years ago. The trip from Georgia to Virginia was a revelation.

He couldn't wait to take lessons.

Over the years, Kiser earned pilot's licenses in different types of flying, including an airline transport pilot license, the highest level of aircraft pilot certification.

He called it his ticket to fly commercial airliner s, his family recalled fondly. It was a dream he was never able to realize.

Kiser, 55, of Suffolk, who died Friday when the private charter jet he co-piloted crashed into Long Island Sound, never lost that sense of elation and excitement he felt about flying, his family said Monday.

Sitting on the floor of her parents' home on Providence Road, off U.S. 460, surrounded by three generations of her family, Jessica Drake, 31, read from the journal entry her father made after taking his first flying lesson in 1972.

"From the very moment we left the ground, I loved it," she read. "It was magnificent. It was like seeing the world as God sees it from his throne in heaven."

Nancy Kiser, 53, seemed to take comfort in hearing her husband's words for the first time. She had never read the journal.

In a voice full of love and pride, she talked about the hard work and hours of study and training he put into getting various pilot's and instructor's licenses.

Through it all, the couple, who celebrated their 35th anniversary last month, had six children and five grandchildren. They still went on dinner dates to local restaurants, followed by a trip to Lowe's hardware store before heading home.

Along with being a pilot, Kiser was a certified flight instructor and retired air traffic controller, who had been on both sides of aircraft emergencies. He once safely landed a Piper Malibu at Patrick Henry International Airport, now Newport News-Williamsburg International Airport, after its engine seized.

The Air Force veteran guided military and civilian aircraft to safety at Langley Air Force Base in Hampton in the 1970s and for the Federal Aviation Administration at Norfolk International Airport until he retired in 2005.

While the job is considered to be among the most stressful in the world, Isaac Kiser, 30, of Columbia, S.C., said his father thrived on it.

Born in Georgia and raised in the Manassas area, Michael Kiser was a member of the first graduating class of George Mason University. He loved the Lord, his family and flying. He was an even-tempered man, who could keep his cool under pressure, his family said.

His air traffic controller call sign of "KK" stood for "Kilo Kilo,""King's Kid" or "Krispy Kreme" depending on who was using it.

When his fellow air traffic controllers decided to strike in the 1980s, Kiser stayed on the job because "he felt he was in service to his country," Nancy Kiser said.

When he retired from the FAA in 2005, he began working part time for International Jet Charter in Norfolk.

He and pilot Robert Janule, 59, of Hampton, were flying three Hampton Roads businessmen to a charity golf tournament in Connecticut when the twin-engine luxury Lear jet may have hit a 20-foot-tall approach light leading to the Groton-New London Airport, authorities have said.

The passengers, Douglas Fuller, 50, and William Preston Fussell, 52, both of Chesapeake, and Norman Kent Fortner, 53, of Suffolk, escaped to safety.

International Jet Charter leased the aircraft from Robertson Asset Management, which is a private firm owned by religious broadcaster and businessman Pat Robertson.

The National Transportation Safety Board, FAA and several state agencies are investigating the crash, said Chris Cooper, a Connecticut Department of Transportation spokesman.

Kiser and Janule were seasoned pilots with decades of experience, according to their families and the FAA. Witness statements suggest that a sudden fog may have obscured their vision, leading to the crash.

As federal authorities begin their months-long investigation, the families are making funeral arrangements, although the Connecticut Office of the Medical Examiner has yet to release the men's bodies.

The Kisers take comfort in their faith and knowledge that the man they called son, husband and father died doing one of the things he loved most in the world.

"I talked to my dad that morning" about Janule, said 17-year-old Emily Kiser, " and how awesome he was. He knew he was in good hands."

Before he left, Michael Kiser called Emily, his youngest, over to him.

"He gave me a hug and said I'll see you soon," she said.

* Reach Janette Rodrigues at (757) 222-5208 or janette.rodrigues@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Virginian-Pilot

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