Animal rescue pilot dies in crash; Two dogs on board are recovering

Seuk Kim’s takeoff from Maryland last weekend with three small dogs on board was the latest of many volunteer flights he’s made to rescue animals in need.

Fulfilling his childhood dream of becoming a pilot, Kim transported cats and dogs from disaster zones, overcrowded shelters and other misfortunes (including a dog trapped for days in a shipping container) to rescue groups. He lined up the other airmen to do the same.

But Sunday’s flight to New York was his last. Kim’s 1986 Mooney M20J crashed into the snowy forest of the Catskill Mountains, killing the 49-year-old pilot and one of the dogs, authorities said. The other two cubs survived and were recovering Tuesday.

“There are very few people in this world like Seuk. He has no ulterior motives. He has never needed recognition,” said rescue flight volunteer Sydney Galley. “He just wanted to help.”

Whiskey, a 4-month-old Labrador mix puppy found huddled in the snow with both legs broken, was doing well while awaiting surgery at Pieper Memorial Veterinary emergency and specialty hospital in Middletown, Connecticut. In the videos, the tawny cub was seen rubbing his belly, licking the staff’s face and then calmly looking around as they changed his leg bandage.

The other surviving dog, an 18-month-old Yorkshire terrier mix named Pluto, was found with minor injuries on Monday. On Tuesday, Pluto was at the Schoharie Valley Animal Shelter, a New York organization that will accept all three dogs. The third was a 5-pound (2.3 kg) puppy named Lisa, Galley said.

The plane crashed in mountainous terrain under unknown circumstances, the Federal Aviation Administration said Tuesday. National Transportation Safety Board investigators were at the scene of the crash.

Greene County Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said Sunday that visibility was poor and Kim asked for permission to change altitude because of turbulence before the plane crashed in the early evening.

Galley said the plane, Kim’s third purchased in recent months, is equipped with technology to help locate him in emergency situations. Still, it took authorities until midnight Sunday to find the snow-covered plane several miles from the nearest road, the sheriff said.

Kim lived in Springfield, Virginia, with her husband and three children. He is originally from South Korea and “came to this country with only a dream and built a meaningful and generous life through hard work and perseverance,” his cousin Christine Kim said in a Facebook message.

“Witty, spontaneous, and full of boundless generosity,” he combined a compassionate heart with a sense of adventure, Kim’s family said in an online obituary.

Seuk Kim had worked in fields such as public relations and marketing. His family said he had pastimes such as cooking and playing baseball, but had long wanted to fly.

Eventually, her wish came true, and Galley said Kim recently told friends that she had gotten a job with a charter flight company.

“He was on top of the world,” he said.

Kim started flying rescue dogs about four years ago and became a dedicated volunteer, flying up to three flights a week and helping other pilots get in line, Galley said. Unfazed by big dogs, cats that other pilots didn’t want to fly, or pet toilet accidents, this man responded to almost any request with a smile and “sure, I can do that,” he recalled.

He flew the dog, named “Connie the Container Dog,” who was found in a shipping container at the Port of Houston earlier this year, according to Galley and a post on the memorial website.

Galley recalled that after Hurricane Helene hit parts of the Southeast this fall, Kim helped fly planeloads of generators and other supplies to hard-hit Western North Carolina and even bought a pickup truck to haul hay to farms.

Penny Edwards of Forever Changed Animal Rescue, one of the groups where Kim helped Helene respond, called her “a huge asset not only to us, but to the entire rescue community.”

“Our hearts are shattered,” he wrote in an email Tuesday.

Kim has helped save hundreds of animals over the years, said Maggie Jackman Pryor, executive director of the Schoharie Valley Animal Shelter.

Among them was a dog and her five puppies that Kuddles flew to Cathy West in October. & Kisses K9 Rescue in Baltimore. The mixed-breed dog was on a list to be euthanized at an overcrowded shelter in Tennessee, West said.

“He got so involved in spreading the word about volunteering to other pilots that it was a good thing to save these dogs so they don’t die in shelters,” he said.

On Sunday, Kim’s husband picked up the four dogs from the Virginia airport where he had just brought them from Georgia, Galley said. After excitedly telling her husband about her new charter flight business, Kim hit the road, dropping off a large dog at a small airport in Maryland and heading to Albany, New York, with the rest of them.

As the plane crashes, the dog imagines himself apologizing to his passengers.

“He always,” he said, “put everyone else before himself.”