Albert Dohring was a victim of a plane crash near I-95. To these pilots, he was also an old friend

One of Blair Messner's worst days flying came with Albert Dohring next to him in the cockpit. 

Dohring, a longtime flight instructor, took Messner on a "check flight," a routine test of a pilot's ability to perform a range of maneuvers, out of the New Castle Airport.

Messner, originally a helicopter pilot, was sloppy on a few turns that he didn’t use on a regular basis. Some he couldn’t remember. 

"He should have flunked me," Messner said. "But he said, 'Let's call that a training ride.'" 

Dohring took Messner out again the next day to help him pass — on his own time, free of charge.

"He couldn't help himself from helping people," Messner said.

At 79, Dohring was still a full-time employee at the New Castle Airport, when he and Terrence Daniels, a pilot from Philadelphia, took off for an early Sunday morning flight that quickly went awry.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Second victim in plane crash near I-95 was flight instructor from Middletown

READ HIS OBITUARY:Funeral services for Albert W. "Al" Dohring set for Saturday

Immediately after takeoff, Daniels told the air-traffic control tower that they needed to return to the airport. The twin-engine plane crashed minutes later roughly 2 miles from the runway near I-95 and Del. 7. Dohring and Daniels died in the crash.

"He was the sort of guy that you always looked forward to flying with because you'd have a good flight and you'd learn something," said Rich Chadwick, another pilot who took lessons from Dohring. "He was very easygoing. He had a way of putting you at ease."

Dohring understood that the best place to deliver significant corrections wasn't thousands of feet in the air, Messner said. Most lessons were better served in a classroom.

With that in mind, he operated in a calm and soothing manner, rarely rattling pilots in the cockpit the way other instructors did.

"A lot of instructors, they like to almost impress you with their knowledge," Chadwick said. "A good instructor like Al educates you without you feeling down about it."

A 39-year veteran of the Delaware Air National Guard who held the rank of chief master sergeant, Dohring had an insatiable passion for flying, putting more hours in the air than most at his age. 

He started working at the airport, under the Delaware River and Bay Authority, in 2001 before becoming the full-time operations coordinator in 2004. The pilots say he'd taken hundreds of trips out of New Castle, mostly as an instructor.

Dohring lived near another runway at a small airport called Duffy's in Townsend. He was planning on cutting back his time at the airport soon, according to Messner. 

Dohring leaves behind his wife, Barbara, and son, Derek D. Dohring of Middletown, as well as several siblings. 

A visitation for family and friends will be held from 9 a.m. until 11 a.m. on Saturday at Spicer-Mullikin Funeral Home at 275 East Main Street in Middletown, followed by a funeral service, according to his obituary. Interment will be at St. Georges Cemetery. 

The pilots who flew with Dohring weren't familiar with Daniels, the pilot in the crash. Some suspected the two were on a check flight, similar to that taken by Messner and others multiple times over the years.

Michael Schmuff and John Bilbrough lined up for takeoff Sunday morning behind a 1965 Beechcraft 55 Baron twin-engine, a plane Bilbrough said he'd admired from a distance before. 

They didn't know until they returned from their flight to Virginia that the plane crashed shortly after that point with Dohring on board. 

"It's sad. He was a good man," Bilbrough said. "You always saw Al at the airport."

Contact Brandon Holveck at bholveck@delawareonline.com or at (302) 324-2267. Follow on Twitter @holveck_brandon. 

DELAWARE NEWS

How a party ended with gun shots, a police chase and a multi-vehicle crash

CrossFit Games: Meet Delaware's international fitness champion

Delaware school covers bathroom stalls in uplifting messages for students