By Jerry Askin Family and friends are coming together to remember a 52-year old pilot who died after his plane crashed in Dalton.Investigators say the plane had just taken off from the Dalton Airport. The pilot was Donald Lee Holbrook. His family says it's what he's always loved to do.... fly airplanes and drive motor cars. In fact, he and his brother broke national records in drag racing for the last 30 years. But, his dream was cut short Saturday. He died in a plane crash."We don't play.. It's safety always. If Donnie knew something was wrong with that plane, it never would have left the ground," says Steve Holbrook, Donald's brother.Steve says his older brother, Donnie was no rookie to flying. He'd been flying airplanes for nearly 20 years. A witness told officers he thinks one of the engines on Donnie's plane stopped working right before the crash.Quite a shock for Donnie's brother."Safety was everything. We didn't do anything. If you were going to drive a race car, you're being taught how to do it. And if you don't have the right safety equipment that car is not going to be fired," says Steve Holbrook. Yvonne Carter was also close to Donnie. She has known the family for about 12 years. She compares losing him to losing a best friend."He could talk to somebody for two and a half hours and it was never about him, it was always, trying to find out about them," says Conte."He didn't brag. He didn't brag about what I've done, he bragged about what we've done," says Steve Holbrook.And while family and friends continue to mourn the loss of a humble and respected man, his dream will live on forever."I don't have any issues - I'll see him again in a short period of time," says Steve Holbrook.Holbrook's body has been taken to the GBI crime lab for a full autopsy. The Chattanooga-native owned a business that sells racing parts in the city, called Holbrook Performance Incorporated.The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board will be conducting a full investigation on the crash.
