OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Family members of a retired United Airlines pilot who died when his small plane crashed in Oceanside spoke out on Tuesday, saying the 83-year-old pilot was not too old to fly.

Edward Judd took off from Oceanside's Municipal Airport Tuesday morning.

Stuart Randolph, Judd's son-in-law, said Judd used the same plane he died in to volunteer his time with the Civil Air Patrol. Randolph said hovering thousands of feet in the air is where the San Clemente resident loved to be.

"After a lifetime of flying as a commercial pilot, a lot of guys miss being in the cockpit, being in command and I think that was the case with him," said Randolph. "He missed it."

10News asked Randolph if age played a role in the crash.

"My personal opinion is that he felt he had all the requisite skills still to handle his aircraft," he said.

But something went horribly wrong as Judd tried to take off in Oceanside.

"I could hear it; I could hear the sputtering and the pop, pop," said Robert Poff, who witnessed the crash.

"We see him towards the wires and I said, 'He ain't going to make it' and he... banked left and bam," said Ted Chavez, another witness.

Judd's twin engine plane came close to San Luis Rey Elementary when he crashed just 50 yards south of State Route 76 near El Camino Real and across the highway from a residential area.

Another witness captured on his cell phone video of black smoke and sounds of sirens rushing to the fiery scene.

But just one glace at the badly charred plane and rescue crews knew that surviving the crash would have been a miracle.

Judd's family said he was a pilot for 40 years and was very active, biking 12 miles every day.

It could take months for federal investigators to piece together what caused the plane crash.