Pilot sick over daughter's crash death

GREENFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) - A New Hampshire man charged with involuntary manslaughter for his daughter’s plane crash death appeared in a Franklin County courtroom Friday.

On New Year’s Day, 2011, Steven Fay was practicing touch-and-go landings at Orange Municipal Airport when his plane crashed; killing his daughter.

On February 1, a not-guilty plea was entered for Fay by a judge , and he was ordered to appear at the court Friday with a lawyer. Fay and his attorney did not want to be interviewed on camera, but after his arraignment a few weeks ago, he told 22News that he has been sick for over a year because of this.

According to a news release from the Northwestern District Attorney’s office, Fay was neither licensed nor qualified to fly the twin-engine plane without an instructor on board. When the plane struck some trees near the runway in Orange, it crashed. His daughter and passenger, 35 year-old Jessica Malin, was killed.

Fay, of Hillsboro, New Hampshire, will return to Franklin County Superior Court on May 16 for a pre-trial hearing.

If found guilty, Fay could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years in state prison, but other penalties include up to two and a half years in the house of correction or probation.