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ROCK HILL, S.C. -- Friends and family gathered Monday to say a final goodbye to well-known businessman and philanthropist Skipper Beck.
Beck was killed Friday in a single-engine plane that crashed in Rock Hill.
His funeral was held Monday afternoon at Forest Hill Church on Park Road in Charlotte.
A visitation for Beck was held at Quail Hollow Country Club Sunday night. Beck was also remembered during sermons at his church in south Charlotte.
Reverend David Chadwick says Beck's faith was deep and meaningful and was growing at the time of his death.
"I just miss my friend and I know I will see him again and look forward to that and that everybody will continue to pray for him and care for Lynn and the boys after his resurrection and celebration of his life ends," Chadwick said.
The investigation into the plane crash continues.
Agents from the FAA and NTSB finished loading up the wreckage. It was taken to Atlanta where investigators hope to discover what happened moments after Beck took off from the York County Airport.
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Senior Air Safety Investigator Luke Schiada held a news conference Saturday afternoon saying, "We're trying to get as much information as we can. We break it down to three primary areas, pilot plane and what we call environment."
A preliminary report from the NTSB should be available in a week, but the final report could take several weeks to complete.
Family members said Beck, 49, was headed to New Jersey when the Cirrus SR22 that he was flying went down about 7:15 a.m. at the York County Airport.
The FAA says the plane experienced problems after taking off from the airport. It tried to turn around to land, but crashed.
"All of a sudden there was just a loud explosion," said Jim Nies, who lives near the airport. "It shook the house. The windows vibrated. I called 911 and I told the lady an airplane crashed. She asked me was there anybody exiting the aircraft. I said, 'There is no aircraft. You don't understand. It's gone. It disintegrated. There's nothing there.'"
AirStar 36 over the scene showed debris scattered across the runway.
Officials say that Beck was the only person on board the four-seater plane.
"We just going to let the facts speak for themselves without trying to characterize them at this point of being experienced or not experienced." Said Lead N.T.S.B. investigator Luke Schiadi. Refering to a question about Skipper Beck's amount of flight hours.
Beck had 390 total flight hours when he crashed in Friday Morning shortly after taking off from runway 2-0.The N.T.S.B has recovered Beck's flight log book and were continuing to look for any instrument which may maintain data that could explain what caused the crash.
His Cirrus SR-22 had 93 hours of flight time and had a 50 hour inspection in August.
The Cirrus aircraft offers an emergency parachute known as the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) as a standard feature. The chute can be deployed by pilots in the event of trouble.
Bill King, the company's vice president of business operations, says the parachute feature has saved 27 lives in 12 deployments. NTSB could not say Friday if the parachute was deployed in the crash.
King extended condolences to the Beck family and called Skipper Beck a friend to many at the Duluth-based aircraft manufacturer. "Our hearts and most profound sympathies go to the family, the friends, and the business associates of Skipper."
Beck remembered as generous businessman
William "Skipper" Beck, 49, was president and CEO of Beck Management Group, to whom the plane -- and several other aircraft at the Rock Hill airport -- was registered. For a number of years, Beck owned the Mercedes-Benz dealership that his father had started in 1967 on East Independence Boulevard in Charlotte.
Beck Management had interests in the auto business, aviation and sports, among other things.
Beck was more than a business figure in the Charlotte area. He was prominent in a number of charitable efforts.
"Charlotte is a very benevolent city. He has to be one of the top of the list," said Jim Noble, a close friend of Beck's.
Noble said he and Beck met in recent years when Beck came in to eat at one of Noble's restaurants.
"We had done some flights, looking at doing a barbecue thing (starting a restaurant). Skipper was a big fan of barbecue," Noble said.
Noble said he and Beck bonded quickly, and the two even shared something few knew -- Bible study.
"He was a changed man from what some people may have known before," Noble said.
Beck made headlines in January when he was arrested in a federal prostitution bust. Prosecutors accused Beck of being one of the Internet-based prostitution ring's estimated 1,900 clients, and he was charged with solicitation, with court documents alleging he paid $400 in exchange for sex.
The charge was dropped earlier this year, after Beck attended a Charlotte treatment center, undergoing a program that treats and counsels prostitution customers.
Noble said Beck should be remembered for his generosity and his contributions to the city of Charlotte.
"Skipper had a great heart," he said. "When he was your friend, he was a good friend. He cared about you. He cared about your family. He'll be missed."
Beck leaves behind a wife and two grown sons.
"It's just a great loss," Noble said. "It's a great loss for me as a friend, for all of his buddies who were good buddies with him. It's a great loss for the city."
Beck also enjoyed being close to the sports scene. Beck was a major supporter of the PGA's Wachovia Championship (now called the Quail Hollow Championship) in Charlotte. In 2007, in fact, he played in a threesome with golf great Tiger Woods and basketball legend Michael Jordan in a pro-am event.
He sat near the bench at Bobcats games and was an ardent supporter of the team. One night, writers say, an NBA official took exception and called a technical foul against Beck, thinking he was on the coaching staff. When told Beck was a fan, the official rescinded the technical foul call.
The plane that crashed had last flown Wednesday, from Teterboro, N.J., outside New York City, to Rock Hill. Federal records show no indication of service problems with the plane.
Family members said Beck was planning to fly to Teterboro again Friday morning.
(NewsChannel 36 reporters Beth Shayne, Michelle Boudin and The Charlotte Observer contributed.)
