Farmington Hills pilot dies in northern Michigan plane crash

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A Farmington Hills man is killed in a plane crash in northern Michigan.

Arthur Green III was piloting a Piper Cherokee plane from Detroit to northern Michigan when it crashed for some reason, killing him.

Green was the only person aboard the plane, which went down sometime Sunday night but he was discovered 7:30 a.m. Monday.
 
While loved ones wait to learn why, they are making sure his accomplishments in life are not forgotten.

"I consider him by brother, he wasn't just a friend - he was my brother," said his friend Larry Sargent.

A former Detroit police officer who served two tours in Iraq, he was also the president of the Detroit chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen, and lieutenant with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Larry Sargent has been by his side since the beginning.

"He called me one day, I will never forget, he said 'I got an airplane,' I said 'No you don't have an airplane.'"

A love of flying started in 2008 taking up hundreds of kids as part of the Tuskegee Airmen's program to get kids interested in a career in aviation.

He also flew planes for his job with the DNR. In fact he was flying out for training when the plane went down in little Traverse Township early Monday morning.

Sargent spoke with the night before the crash.

"I told him to not be in a hurry to get up there," he said. "Check the weather, because I see a few storms popping up on the northwest part of Michigan. I said just make sure everything is clear. He said 'I'll take care.'  That's why I trusted him because he had done it before."

But even before he received the news of his death, Sargent didn't feel right about the trip.

"I had a gut feeling when I got up," he said. "Normally when we fly on any trip, the guys in our organization will always text somebody and let them know what was going on. I didn't hear anything. Then around 10:30 his wife called and I got the news."

It is unknown what caused the crash. The Federal Aviation Administration is currently investigating.

"He died with the passion that he loved," Sargent said. "He loved flying."