Pilot's girlfriend: 'He saved my life'

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Rula Lutfi, girlfriend of missing pilot Darien Peckham, said she was supposed to join the man on the flight back from Tallahassee.

CITRUS COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- As the Coast Guard search for two men and their plane missing off the Florida coast since Sunday night continues, a Bay area woman said she was supposed to be on the flight.

The air and sea search expanded on Monday for 28-year-old Zachary Schlitt, 35-year-old Darien Peckham and the Beech 35 Debonair plane.

And according to Rula Lutfi, girlfriend of Darien Peckham, she was supposed to accompany the two pilots on the flight back from Tallahassee to Tampa. She said Peckham, knowing she did not like bumpy flights, advised her to return by car because of the threat of bad weather.

"I've flown with him before and he is an amazing pilot,' Lutfi said. "It (turbulence) makes me just really nervous so he knew that so he said well see if you have friends here that can give you a ride home."

She did, riding back to Tampa with friends. She said once she got home and did not hear from Peckham, she became concerned.

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"I was supposed to meet back with him here,' said Lutfi. "When I didn't hear from him, I was worried. His sister called me and let me know what was going on. All I could think of what, 'Oh my God, I could have been in there too.'

"He saved my life.'

On Monday, officials found debris fields in the Gulf of Mexico near the area where the small plane is believed to have crashed. The last point air traffic control saw the plane was about 14 miles west of Yankeetown, near the Citrus and Levy county line, around 6:30 p.m.

Both Zachary Schlitt, 28 and Darien Peckham, 35, are licensed pilots.

Rescue crews have found a seat and a flight bag with headphones about 15 miles west of Homosassa, but there is no sign yet of the missing men.

Peckham worked at Moffitt Cancer Center before starting his own company. Schlitt is a real estate acquisition manager for Boos Development.

Coast Guard officials are compiling flight data and trying to determine how long the men could survive in the water. The search is expected to continue today.

Lutfi and Peckham exchanged text messages before he took off. The messages stopped after 6 p.m. Sunday.

"It's really bad. It's horrible,' Lutfi said of the situation. "And I try not to think about it and pray to God. Everyone just pray and he is a good person so I'm sure he will be ok."