COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – A plane crash Tuesday evening in London, Ohio killed both men on board. Those men were later identified as 43-year-old Athar Mohammad Ashraf of Columbus, and 63-year-old Malik Naseem, who came from Texas to teach flying lessons.

Athar Mohammad Ashraf leaves behind a wife and three daughters ages 3, 6, and 9. His family and friends remember him as a kind man with many hobbies.

“He is learning to have the pilot license. He has so many other hobbies as well,” explained his father Mohammad Ashraf.

“So many calls are coming for him. He leaves behind his kindness. Good relationship with people. He has made so many friends,” said the mourning father.

The news surprised everyone in the central Ohio Pakistani community. The elder Ashraf is a founding member of the Community Association of Pakistani Americans of Central Ohio. He moved his family to Columbus from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 2003. He bought the former Days Inn hotel at the corner of 161 and Interstate 71 and changed the name to Columbus Grand Hotel. Athar Ashraf managed the hotel and was very active in the business community including ‘Task Force 161,’ a business development group in that part of Columbus.

The newest hobby Athar was adding to his repertoire was flying. He wanted to get his pilot license. He began taking lessons with his father and a family friend Amjad Baig.

“It was my passion always to be a pilot since I was originally from Pakistan since back home. And I just wanted to pursue it,” explained Baig.

Baig was shocked to hear the news of the crash Tuesday evening just after 6:20. He was supposed to be the one in the plane that day with “Captain Naseem.”

“I changed my time, I said I want to go Wednesday instead of Tuesday. So Athar was scheduled Thursday, so he moved his schedule from Thursday to Tuesday. I feel sad you know. I feel guilty that I got them in touch. I was thinking it was going to be very fun. Because we have a passion for flying. It didn’t turn out to be a very good experience. The schedule opened up on Tuesday because I wasn’t going. So he moved up from Thursday to Tuesday,” explained Baig.

The 60-year-old trainer was contacted by Baig to teach lessons here in Central Ohio. Once they were able to get the plane to Madison County Airport, they all signed up for lessons on different days.

“We were thinking about owning a plane in the future. Captain Naseem also talked about opening a school in Columbus. He was very passionate. He had 35 years flying experience,” explained Baig.

“It was very shocking I couldn’t believe that. It just happened. It was just like I was just watching a movie. And not reality. They just couldn’t land very well. And then, it happened to be a bad landing,” said Baig.

Baig will remember the younger Ashraf as, “A very helping personality. Such a great human being. Always there to help. Very humble, very down to earth. A great father, a great son, and honestly a great community member.”

The elder Ashraf, still talks about the hobbies his only son would share with his three daughters.

“A few days ago he took the small girls to the waterpark. And this year for winter he took the small girls for skiing also,” he explained.

The flight which lasted about an hour and twenty minutes is still under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). Storm Team 4 Chief Meteorologist Dave Mazza examined the weather at the time of the crash and determined wind speeds were about 12-14 miles per hour with gusts up to 20 miles per hour and likely would not have impacted a flight or landing.