(WBNG) — Friday’s crash in Tompkins, New York brought a sad end to the life of 65-year-old Daniel Drew, who had amassed more than 30,000 hours in the air.

Officials say Drew was flying his privately-owned Cessna 310 twin engine plane from Niagara Falls to Teterboro Airport in New Jersey at the time of the crash.

Steve Marchionda, the former owner of an aircraft management and charter company for whom Drew worked for about seven years, acknowledges that the cause of the accident is undetermined. Still he speculated that, “Dan dying from a problem flying a plane would be like a surgeon dying from cutting himself.”

His love of flying started young, when Drew’s father, who is still alive, got him a flying lesson for his 16th birthday.

Since then, Drew became a “walking textbook”, as described by those who worked closely with him, with Drew holding several aviation licenses which not only certified him as a pilot, but as a plane mechanic.

“I can tell you I would have absolutely stepped on that airplane that day, stepped in the right seat with Dan Drew and flown to Teterboro with him,” Marchionda explained while speaking to Drew’s ability as a pilot. “That’s how much I trust him.”

Marchionda owned International Group. Drew worked there for about seven years flying Gulf Stream IV planes, frequently with Bob Spooner.

“I was in the Marine Corp. for 25 years,” explained Spooner. “Flew for the airlines for 17 years, retired as a captain, and Dan Drew was as good as any pilot I was ever with in the cockpit.”

Spooner told 12 News he was shocked to had about the tragedy, because of Drew’s skills as a pilot. Together they flew more than 500 flights around the world, even taking Bill Clinton to campaign events for his wife Hillary Clinton.

“I was just shocked,” said Spooner. As was Susan Wronkoski, who worked with Spooner and Drew as a flight attendant. She said he was cautious about flying in rain or snow.

“He was not the type of person who would’ve gotten in to the plane if he did not feel confident about it,” said Wronkoski alluding to Friday’s light snow.

Not only a pilot and mechanic, Drew also became a successful businessman, Marchionda notes, with him owning several hardware stores in the Buffalo area.

Marchionda notes that with his company, Drew flew planes that carried some high-profile people– a list that includes former President Bill Clinton, director Martin Scorsese, New York Yankees great Alex Rodriguez, televangelist Billy Graham, and actor Robert DeNiro, although the list does not stop there.

Marchionda additionally notes Drew had flown Paul McCartney, Woody Allen, M. Night Shyamalan, Jim Nabors, Lynda Carter Altman, Kiss, Johnny Depp, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Lowell, Al and Tipper Gore, Aerosmith, Jon Bon Jovi, Pat Sajak, Jennifer Lopez, Tommy Hilfiger, and Rod Stewart.

The trust that Marchionda had for Drew was not only in his ability as a pilot, but also as a person.He explained that famous actor Richard Gere had left his shaving bag on the plane during one trip to Italy. Instead of leaving it on the plane, Marchionda notes that Drew tracked down Gere to get the bag back to its owner.

“We carried some pretty fancy people on that airplane and you can’t just blow them out the door with anybody, and Dan always handled it.”

Above all else, Marchionda stated Drew was an overall nice guy who loved to spread joy to others around him.

“He elicited a warmth from people that you just didn’t have in normal human interactions,” Marchionda said. “With Dan, you would meet him and you would get a nice fuzzy feeling right there.”