Clarence Wayne “C.W.” Fortney II had dreamed of flying planes since he was a small boy, always asking his parents to take him to the nearby town airport and watch for planes coming in.

That dream came true when Fortney became a commuter pilot and eventually a pilot and first officer for Air Tran Airways.

“It was a difficult thing to get, but he finally made it, he was a major airline pilot,” said his father, Clarence Wayne Fortney, of Clay City.

Fortney, 34, was among those killed while traveling Sunday morning on Comair Flight 5191. He was headed to Atlanta, where he was scheduled to be on the crew of an Air Tran flight later that day.

“Of course, everybody thinks their son was the greatest, but anybody that knew him would tell you he was just the greatest boy that ever was,” his father said.

The younger Fortney leaves a “wonderful wife,” Sarah, and a 16-month-old boy, Calvin, his father said. They lived in Lexington.

“He had everything he wanted,” his father said.

C.W. was his and his wife Andrea’s only child, he said. They plan to help support Sarah as she raises the child.

“I’m just killed,” his father said. “I’ve just got to go on. I won’t be able to do as good as him, but I’ve got to take care of this boy.”