Instructor, student killed in Miramar plane crash remembered as avid airmen

MIRAMAR, Florida. – Friends remember the deceased student pilot and flight instructor when their plane crashed in a Miramar garden on Monday morning.

Police identified the two men on Tuesday afternoon.

Miramar police spokeswoman Tania Rues said instructor Antony Rolland Yen, 34, and student pilot Jordan Travis Hall, 32, died when the Aventura II single-engine plane swung crashed in a neighborhood just south of North Perry Airport around 11:45 a.m.

Yen was last known to have lived in the Orlando area while Hall lived in West Park.

Brett Schneider, a friend and former student of Yen, said he considered him a mentor:

“Antony could best be described as a force in aviation. He always has a positive and encouraging mindset. Always there for his students through everything. He had a special gift for teaching and his extreme passion and love for aviation took his training to the next level. All he ever wanted to do was fly, it was in his blood. He enjoyed sharing his passion with others through his flight instructions and his aerial tours. The aviation community, especially the seaplane community, is very tight-knit and he will be greatly missed.”

Brett Schneider, friend and former student of Antony Yen

A friend of Hall’s, who identified himself as “Matt”, called him “remarkable”.

“Jordan was a remarkable friend, whenever I passed through Miami he always made it known that I had a place to stay. We lived across the country but he would go out to check in through social media or text. I would always leave our (conversations) so inspired by everything he did. As impossible as some of his ideas may have seemed to some, he always found a way to make them happen. If Jordan said he was going to do something, he was manifesting it. He was always full of ideas and new projects. He owned and rebuilt these amazing boats, collected cars and even built this huge shark tank at his house. He even saved up to buy a land in the Bahamas that he named after his late grandmother. Jordan knew what brought him joy and knew how to live life to the fullest.

Matt, friend of Jordan Hall

Jazmine Frisco, another friend of Hall’s, called him “brave”, “ambitious”, and avid flight attendant.

“Everything he wanted to do, he did,” Frisco said. “We talked about planes and him flying. I told him that I found it incredible. He made a YouTube video. He always posted on planes. He was the kid who could light up a room.

Airport staff reported that the plane was undergoing maintenance and had performed a test flight shortly before it crashed.

Investigators believe the aircraft, classified as an experimental aircraftwas leaking fuel before it broke down.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.

Midday report:

Shortly before police identified the victims on Tuesday, crews were on the scene to remove the plane from the house.

Manyerenis Moreno and her 2-year-old son, Tyler Flores, were inside the home at the time. Moreno was back at the scene on Tuesday.

“We still don’t know when we’re going to get our house back,” she said.

Moreno said the accident still left her “speechless”.

“I’m alive and my baby is alive but we could have died,” Moreno said.

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