Washington Blade

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WASHINGTON, Thursday, Sept. 13 - The 1400 block of Swann Street, NW, where American Airlines pilot David Charlebois lived, is marked by Victorian townhouses, rows of trees, and, according to friends and neighbors, a small-town atmosphere. Charlebois, 39, and his partner of 14 years, Tom Hay, along with their dog named Chance, contributed to the tight-knit sense of community on the block, friends said.

Part of that sense of community was shattered Tuesday when the American Airlines jetliner on which Charlebois served as co-pilot was hijacked by terrorists who deliberately crashed it into the Pentagon shortly after the Boeing 757 jet took off at Dulles International Airport. The plane, Flight 77, was en route to Los Angeles.

Hay said Charlebois’ loyalty to his friends, family, and community was rivaled only by his love for flying. "He always wanted to be a pilot," said Hay, adding that Charlebois made his career choice while he was growing up in Northern Virginia.

After graduating from Yorktown High School in Arlington, Va., Hay said, Charlebois enrolled in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., where he learned to fly a variety of private and commercial planes, including commercial airliners. He began his career as a pilot for corporate executives and later worked as a pilot for U.S. Airways. He joined American Airlines ten years ago, Hay said, where he served as co-pilot, or first officer, flying mostly transcontinental routes out of Dulles.

Charlebois’s father’s work as a U.S. foreign service officer landed Charlebois in Paris during his early childhood years, Hay said, apparently converting Charlebois into a life-long Francophile. Charlebois, who spoke French fluently, traveled to Paris at least once a year, Hay said. The couple planned to go to Paris later this year.

Hay and American Airlines flight attendant Robert Todd, who has flown frequently with Charlebois, said Charlebois has worked quietly within the company as an advocate for the rights of gay employees, including gay pilots.

Charlebois was an active member of the National Gay Pilots Association. Last year, Hay said, Charlebois marched in the Millennium March on Washington for Equality, a gay civil rights event, while wearing his pilot uniform. When American Airlines began offering domestic partner benefits for employees, Hay said, Charlebois quickly arranged for him to enroll in the company’s health insurance plan as Charlebois’ domestic partner. Although Hay said he is uncertain about Charlebois’s overall impact on company policy, gay activists have credited American Airline’s gay employees, including a recently formed gay employee group, with persuading company executives to turn American Airlines into one of the nation’s most gay-friendly corporations.

"David was sometimes cautious because he never wanted to create tension in the cockpit," Hay said. "So he never flew with a pilot who had trouble with him being gay." Being someone who worked well with people, Hay said, Charlebois preferred to allow his fellow pilots to get to know him first before discussing issues related to his sexual orientation.

"He would win people over," Hay said.

American Airlines pilot Ken Headley, a friend and neighbor of Charlebois, called the death a stunning loss for the community and the airline.

"David was one of those people … nobody could think of anything bad to say about him. He was loving and caring and uplifting," said Headley. "He was not just a co-worker. He was one of my dearest friends."

Friend and neighbor Greg Link, who owns a shop on 14^th Street, NW, called Home Rule, said Charlebois and Hay were among his first customers and soon emerged as fixtures in a neighborhood becoming known as "Dupont East." Although the neighborhood includes a high concentration of gay residents, it’s also home to couples, both gay and straight, who often socialize together with brunches and dinner parties, according to local real estate agent Bruce Major and Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission Irv Morgan. Major and Morgan joined others in describing Charlebois and Hay as the type of neighbors who helped turn a sometimes trouble-plagued city into a livable community.

"He always had a smile on his face," said Link. "He’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met in D.C."