Real estate giant Bob Russell of Russell & Jeffcoat killed in plane crash

Officials with the Lexington County Coroner’s Office have identified the pilot who died in a single-engine plane crash just after 9 a.m. Saturday.

Robert “Bob” R. Russell Jr., of Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors in Columbia, one of the giants of real estate in the Midlands, was killed when the single-engine plane he was piloting crashed into a pond shortly after taking off from Columbia Metropolitan Airport.

Lexington County Coroner Margaret Fisher positively identified the pilot late Saturday afternoon as 85-year-old Russell of Columbia. She said the plane was headed toward Asheville. There was no one else on board.

The plane went down in a pond on private property on Collumwood Circle, off Old Barnwell Road, near West Columbia. The pilot radioed to the airport shortly after takeoff that he was having mechanical difficulty, according to airport spokeswoman Kaela Harmon.

Russell & Jeffcoat Real Estate turned 50 this month.

Russell started the company from scratch in 1965 with an idea and hard work. Abb Jeffcoat joined the firm a little later. He died in 2011.

The company has been planning a 50-year anniversary party for later this month.

Ron Roe, the president and CEO of Russell & Jeffcoat, said Bob Russell gave “true meaning to the words ‘renaissance man.’”

“Bob is a remarkable, remarkable human being, a true man of character from the old school,” Roe said. “He was just beloved by everyone in our company.”

Roe described Russell as an avid golfer who could still shoot in the 70s, a master singer and piano player and a great pilot. At one time, Roe said, Russell was “the best stunt pilot in America.”

Russell was a member of the South Carolina Aviation Hall of Fame.

Roe said he has no doubt Saturday’s crash was the result of mechanical failure, not pilot error.

Russell’s wife, Patty, lives in Columbia, Roe said, and the couple has two grown children, daughter Renee Russell and son Rip Russell.

“I loved Bob like a brother,” said Roe, who has been with the company for 20 years.

The crash site is near the Pine Grove Softball Complex.

The plane took off at 9:15 a.m., Harmon said. At 9:20 a.m., the airport’s public safety department received an alert of the plane’s possible engine failure and was on stand-by.

Shortly afterward, the tower lost contact, Harmon said.

The partially submerged plane was being pulled from the water late Saturday afternoon. The National Transportation Safety Board will lead the investigation and is expected to provide more information later.

This story was originally published May 23, 2015 at 8:33 PM with the headline "Real estate giant Bob Russell of Russell & Jeffcoat killed in plane crash."