Longtime pilot from Port dies after plane crash

David Schmutzler, a veteran pilot and Port Washington business owner, died early Saturday of injuries he suffered in a plane crash near the Burlington airport Friday evening.

Schmutzler, 80, was president, owner and co-founder of Jadair International in downtown Port Washington as well as a flight instructor. On Friday, May 15, he flew from West Bend to Burlington to work with a mechanic who had recently installed a piece of radio on the plane that needed to be tweaked, his wife Barbara Bode said.

He was in Burlington most of Friday afternoon, she said, and was on his way back to West Bend when he experienced problems with the plane. He turned around almost immediately and was headed back to the Burlington airport when the accident occurred about 6:15 p.m., his family said.

Burlington resident Roger Bieneman, whose property is adjacent to the crash site, said he didn’t hear the crash but said his “neighbor heard a big boom.”

Bieneman said the Cessna Centurion came in too low on approach to the airport and clipped some trees before crashing.

“When it touched the tops of the trees, it came down pretty fast,” he said. “I’m surprised it didn’t land on its nose.”

Schmutzler, who was alone in the plane, had to be extricated from the plane, authorities said. He was talking to rescue personnel as he was taken to Aurora Medical Center in Burlington, then transferred to Froedtert Hospital in Wauwatosa.

He had several surgeries before he died at 12:52 a.m. Saturday, his wife said. His family was with him.

Racine County Medical Examiner Michael Payne said an autopsy was conducted Monday and the results shared with the Federal Aviation Administration.

The autopsy could help the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board determine whether a medical issue played a role in the crash, Payne said.

Investigators will comb through the wreckage to try and determine the cause of the accident, Mike Pieczynski of the FAA’s Milwaukee Field Office said.

“We try to make a determination of what happened — whether it had a power failure or some other issue,” he said. “We’ve got to look at all aspects and talk to a lot of people.”

The wreckage was removed from the site Monday and taken to a hangar, where investigators will begin their work, which could take as long as a year to complete, Pieczynski said.

Schmutzler had a long-standing love affair with flying, his wife said.

He started flying when he was 11, and had logged 15,453 hours in the air, she said.

He grew up around planes, thanks to his father and longtime pilot Jack Schmutzler. 

When the father and son started Jadair, a maker of water recycling equipment for the mining and construction industry, 50 years ago, they derived the name from the first letters of their names and “air,” she noted.

Schmutzler, who served in the U.S. Air Force for three years, was fascinated by flying, his family said.

“It was in his blood,” his wife said. 

He flew for enjoyment and for business, finding it easier to visit job sites throughout the country, his wife said.

About 15 years ago, Schmutzler started flying float planes, she said, and got hooked on that. 

“His float plane was his boat,” she said.

Schmutzler was also an experienced flight instructor. Among his most well-known pupils was Jeff Skiles, one of the two pilots who pulled off the Miracle on the Hudson, the emergency landing of U.S. Airways flight 1549 on the Hudson River in New York on Jan. 15, 2009.

“He was a wonderful guy,” his wife said. “We’re going to miss him. They’ll miss him in the air too.”

An obituary for Schmutzler is in this issue of Ozaukee Press.

Ed Nadolski of the Burlington Standard Press contributed to this story.