A Connecticut teacher and student — two of four people killed in a plane crash in Vermont over the weekend — were remembered by students and classmates Tuesday as having a relationship close to that of a father and a daughter.
About a dozen students of 55-year-old Paul Pelletier, an aviation technology teacher at Middletown High School, gathered at the Russell Library on Broad Street for a student-led vigil to remember their teacher and fellow classmate 15-year-old Delilah Van Ness.
The two were with Delilah’s mother, 51-year-old Susan Van Ness, and 88-year-old Francisco Rodriguez of Lebanon when the single-engine Piper aircraft they were in crashed not far from where it took off at the Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh, Vermont, on Sunday, according to authorities. All four on board were killed.
Students of Pelletier wanted to remember their instructor and share stories about their time learning from him in the classroom. Several school officials were present for the small vigil inside the library, including the superintendent of the district, principal and others, but said they did not wish to comment out of respect for those who died and for the students who organized the remembrance.
Middletown High School was closed on Tuesday to allow students time to grieve, school officials said. They have also made counselors available to those who need it. Athletic games set for Tuesday were also canceled and rescheduled, with practices being optional for students.
Angel Benitez, one of Pelletier’s students, told news crews after the private vigil that his teacher was “very passionate” about aviation and drones, and always pushed his students to get the best out of them in the classroom.
“He really believed in every one of us and allowed all of us to pursue this aerospace dream and really just the best teacher,” said Benitez, a sophomore at the high school.
“Mr. Pelletier and Delilah were a team,” he continued. “They were mostly the brains of the whole operation and with them gone I don’t know who’s going to fill that gap. But it should be something we must move forward for and progress from.”
Pelletier, Benitez said, was the kind of teacher who was patient with students and who would break things down when they did not understand something, often using drawings or other examples that put concepts into terms that his students could comprehend.
Benitez said it helped to come together and share stories and memories, but that it was also very emotional and tough.
According to officials, Pelletier, Rodriguez, Susan Van Ness and Delilah Van Ness left Connecticut on a plane on Sunday around 8:30 a.m. from Windham Airport in Connecticut and flew for about two hours to the Basin Harbor Airport in Ferrisburgh for a brunch reservation. Delilah Van Ness was reportedly receiving flight lessons from Pelletier, officials said.
After leaving a restaurant shortly after noon, the group was spotted around 12:15 p.m. on the runway at Basin Harbor to fly back to Connecticut. Authorities did not learn of the crash until family members of the teen and her mother reported them as missing to Middletown police Sunday evening when they never returned from Vermont.
Officials used GPS cell phone data to find that their last known location was near the airstrip where they took off from. Crews in Vermont used a drone to find the wreckage of the plane a few hours later and confirmed that all four on board were dead.
Luis Revilla of East Hartford-based Revilla Films said he met Pelletier a few years ago when he was contacted by the teacher about doing a series of drone-safety videos in conjunction with the Middletown High School. The films were expected to be published on the Federal Aviation Administration’s website, he said.
Though they started out as having just a working relationship, Revilla said Pelletier later became like a father-figure to him, similar to the way he described the relationship Pelletier had with Delilah Van Ness.
Revilla arrived at the vigil with four roses in hand and spoke to news reporters before going inside.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Revilla said of learning that his friend had died. “It was terrible.”
The drone films the two were working on often featured Pelletier’s students, Revilla said. Some of them involved Rodriguez, who was a longtime friend of the high school teacher and a World War II veteran, and even Susan Van Ness.
One video they made, which was set to premier on Friday, focused on Delilah Van Ness and her connection with Pelletier.
“Trying to watch it without them being here is very difficult,” Revilla said
Revilla said he would see Pelletier every week in his video studio where they worked on editing their films and brainstorming ideas. He said he hasn’t been back there since the crash.
“I haven’t returned to the office yet because as soon as I open the door his suit is going to be hanging, his shoes will be there,” Revilla said. “It’s gonna be like going to a house without a family member.”
While working on the film project, Revilla said he got to know Delilah Van Ness and her mother pretty well. He described the teen as someone who always brought “brightness” into the studio and who had a “great passion” for aviation, her career and for her excitement about becoming a pilot.
“Paul gave her the opportunity,” Revilla said. “He saw her as a daughter. There was a great connection between her, between Sue, between us. It was a family.”
All the things Pelletier did to make sure Delilah Van Ness succeeded in life were “from his heart,” Revilla said.
He described Pelletier as a man who loved his wife and someone who would always say how happy he was in life every day. Pelletier was the kind of person who always put others first and never thought about himself, Revilla said.
“He was more than just a teacher,” he continued. “He was a mentor, a friend. He cared about his students in a different way. He cared about their future.”
“I’m very sure when students return to school they are going to feel the emptiness in Paul’s classroom,” Revilla said.
Benitez was encouraged to speak to news reporters by his father, who said he thought it was important to shed light on the aviation program Pelletier led and all that the students have gotten from it.
“He pushed me on getting my drone license and taught me how to get it, all that,” Benitez said of his teacher. “We were just learning on what we could make do with it, in terms of a business.”
“I don’t really know what’s going to happen next, however, we’ll fight and we’ll continue pursuing with the drone program.”
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