Waltham's Paul Mitchell, 27, Dies In Plane Crash

WALTHAM, MA — When Paul Mitchell was very little, his family took a plane trip to visit relatives in Jamaica. The crew invited the chubby-faced child into the cockpit. Not only did Paul become enamored with that interaction — the gears, the view and the possibility they brought — but it set him on a trajectory that would shape the rest of his life.

“Ever since then, his goal from Day 1 was to learn how to fly planes and then become a pilot for a commercial airline,” said Mark, Paul’s older brother.

Paul was just months from making that part of his lifelong dream a reality when, on April 30, he died in a crash while flying a twin-engine Piper PA-23 near Bautista Canyon in Riverside County, California. He was 27.

Paul was born and raised in Waltham, the youngest of three children. He attended Fitch and MacArthur elementary schools. He then went to Kennedy Middle School and played sports for and graduated from Waltham High School in 2011 and spent a lot of time at the Waltham Boys & Girls Club.

He was the baby of the family and was adored by his parents, his aunts and his siblings — who were convinced, though their mom would never say it, he was her favorite. Paul — the tall, gentle giant — was everyone’s favorite.

When Paul’s older brother and sister graduated from college in 2008, his parents threw them a party at a hotel. At the event, people were taking turns congratulating the duo when Paul took the mic. His siblings thought the high school sophomore was about to congratulate them.

But in true Paul style, he said, "My name is Paul Mitchell, I’m a future pilot: I’m starting to take donations for flights around the world. Think of it as an investment."

He promised anyone who donated that once he got his pilot’s license, he would put it toward their flights.

His family thought it was hilarious.

“We were dying,” Mark said. “He made a decent amount of money that day.”

Family, friends and children he mentored at the Boys & Girls Club and acquaintances alike all knew Paul as playful, upbeat and kind. Paul and his friends racked up inside jokes, and he was quick and generous with his smile. He just wanted people around him to be happy. He would wow with his dance moves and had a laugh that friends described as nothing less than infectious.

But after being diagnosed with a concussion his senior year in high school on the football field, his dream and his own happiness came into question. He went to see a doctor and, during a scan, found a cyst on his pituitary gland. If not treated, it could cause blindness and would mean he would not pass Federal Aviation Administration health requirements that would allow him to fly.

Paul — the same guy who as a child saved every single paper airplane cutout he lovingly designed, complete with their make and model and carefully drawn windows — was devastated.

But with the support of his mother, Paul got the surgeries necessary and was eventually cleared by the FAA.

“It was probably his happiest day when he got that letter and got cleared by the FAA,” Mark said.

Paul studied aviation at Dowling College on Long Island, was known to fly his then-girlfriend from Waltham to her home in New Hampshire, and learned even more about flying. It seemed Paul could tell you anything about the mechanics of it all. Anytime there was a crash, Paul would research it in an effort to understand what happened.

"That’s why it came as such a surprise — this plane crash," Mark said.

After college, Paul worked as a customer service representative at a private jet company and then worked at a handful of similar companies in the area. He spent nearly two years as a flight manager at PlaneSense in New Hampshire before he got his most recent job in California flying for a company that surveyed land. The gig would take him to several states, and he loved it. Not least because, instead of having to pay to fly to log hours to get to his next goal, he was being paid to fly.

“Not everyone can say that they love their job. He loved it,” Mark said. Paul had plans to work for a commercial airline and had hoped to get a job with Delta in September, settle down with his girlfriend and, eventually, start his own airline in the Caribbean.

Though Paul was seven years younger than he, Mark said in many ways he looked up to Paul for his ability and determination to live his life fully doing what he loved most.

He wasn’t the only one who looked up to Paul.

Paul was a "Club Kid" who spent much of his youth at the Waltham Boys & Girls Club and then his early adult years gave back as a staff member and mentor.

Mark said he’s been getting texts from other Club Kids saying they looked up to him and sharing how much of an impact he had on them.

“He was kind, caring, and had a great sense of humor," said Waltham Boys & Girls Club Executive Director Erica Young. "He lit up any room he walked into and could easily put a smile on anyone's face. He was a great role model for the youth in our community and made a positive impact on anyone he met.”

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).