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Brian White, the pilot, found his calling in the clouds. Nick Boehle, the businessman, was spreading his medical companies across the West.

Victims of Mesa plane crash identified

VIDEO: Watch Tribune reporter Nicole Beyer's report

VIDEO: Eyewitnesses talk about the crash

SLIDESHOW: View photos from the crash scene

For a year, White flew Boehle to meetings. During their downtime, they started a Web site devoted to pilots of small planes.

There were distinct differences between the two: White was married and living in Gilbert, his first child expected in late spring; Boehle was a Scottsdale bachelor, driving a sports car and dating a former pro football cheerleader.

But they had more in common, such as a love for flying and degrees from Arizona State University after graduating from northeast Valley high schools: Boehle from Horizon and White from Chaparral.

Finally, both men were 27 years old and their futures were nothing but clear skies.

Tragically, their lives – and that of Boehle’s secretary, 28-year-old Lisa O’Neal – ended Wednesday morning when their single-engine plane suffered mechanical problems and then crashed shortly after takeoff from Mesa’s Falcon Field.

Emergency personnel respond to a small plane crash in Mesa Wednesday morning. Three people were killed. Photo by Tribune

White’s piloting saved others. The Lancair IV-P plummeted into an orange grove southwest of the intersection of Greenfield and McKellips roads, about 400 to 500 feet from a Super Wal-Mart and other businesses.

“As far as I’m concerned, the guy’s a hero,” said witness Antonio Gonzalez. “He gave it up so he wouldn’t go into the shopping center.”

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash.

The three were scheduled to fly to John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Calif. Boehle, director of operations for NeuroDiagnostic Laboratories and American Medical Diagnostics, was attempting to expand into the Los Angeles market after establishing offices in the Valley and Dallas.

“He just had everything going for him,” friend Franco Calabrese said.

White’s love of flying was a new development in his young life, said his father, Bruce White. After a few years of college marked by good times but slipping grades, the younger White gave up his pursuit of a business degree. Then, he shocked his family by announcing he wanted to be a pilot.

This profession called to White so strongly, he went deep into debt for two years of flight management studies and flight school. In the end, he flew – and got paid to do so.

“He wasn’t a 9-to-5 kid and he was really enjoying life,” Bruce White said.

Boehle just a month ago purchased the white Lancair. With a cruising speed of 330 mph, the plane was perfect for the young entrepreneur’s dashes to Texas and California.

But almost immediately after the 7:10 a.m. takeoff, there were problems.

Tammy Neely of Mesa was arriving at work when she heard a distressed plane, its engine revving with a high pitch. Looking up, she saw the aircraft “spitting smoke.”

To Jose Herrera, making a delivery in the back of Wal-Mart, it appeared the pilot was trying to gain control, but as the plane banked right it completely flipped over.

Neely said the ground shook as the plane exploded in the grove. She ran across the street with other bystanders, but as flames engulfed the plane it became obvious nothing could be done.

Said Bruce White: “The pain … It’s hard to explain.”

A trust fund has been established for White..

He leaves behind a wife, Lauren, and she is expecting daughter MacKenzie in June.

The fund has been established through Chase Bank; the account number is 2743903300.

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Tribune videographer Tony D’Astoli contributed to this report.