Service Tuesday for Shafer, Pilot of Brown’s Plane
A memorial will be held Tuesday for the Newport Beach native who was one of the pilots of the Air Force plane that crashed in the hills outside Dubrovnik, Croatia, killing 32 people, including U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown.
Capt. Tim Shafer, 33, a 1980 graduate of Newport Harbor High School, will be remembered with full military honors at a 1 p.m. Mass at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County, his family said.
The service will include a fly-by performed by pilots at the base, where Shafer was stationed before being transferred to Germany six months ago.
Shafer was among an elite group of pilots assigned to ferry dignitaries and heads of state to different destinations in Europe, according to his sister, Susan Haydon. Shafer, a graduate of Orange Coast College, had long aspired to be a pilot, and the assignment was “a dream come true,” she said.
The cause of the crash, which occurred at night during an intense storm, is under investigation.
Maps to the service will be available at the base entrance. Information: (707) 424-5000.
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