Oct 22, 2006 4:31 PM EST

Family and friends remembered the flight instructor Saturday who died in a crash with Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle as someone who made a career out of his love of flying.

Tyler Stanger, 26, was killed Oct. 11 when the small plane he and Lidle were flying in smashed into a New York high rise.

Family and friends said Saturday at a memorial service at Skyrose Chapel at Rose Hills Memorial Park that Stanger had loved flying since he was a boy and later made a career in aviation.

Via ESPN.com