SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) — Several days after a small plane disappeared hundreds of miles off the San Diego coastline, friends and colleagues are paying tribute to the researcher who was piloting the aircraft.

“I would call him my best friend. I’m numb, completely numb,” said David Gvalia, a friend and former colleague of pilot Tsotne Javakhishvili.

The single-engine Cessna TTX took off from Ramona on Sunday afternoon. After being cleared to approach Montgomery-Gibbs Airport, the pilot stopped responding to the tower.

The aircraft traveled southwest of San Diego for approximately 500 miles before it disappeared from radar. Search crews reportedly combed the area for some 24 hours before the search was called off.

“It’s devastating. I still can’t believe it,” Gvalia said.

Aviation experts believe the plane was likely on autopilot after the pilot became incapacitated. It’s believed the pilot was the only one on board.

Scripps Research CEO Peter Schultz, who owns the plane, confirmed the pilot was a friend and experienced aviator.

In a Facebook post, a university in the country of Georgia, the University of Georgia, confirmed the pilot was 67-year-old Javakhishvili, Director of the Institute of Synthetic Biology. He had lived and worked in the San Diego area since the 1990s. Javakhishvili previously worked at the Scripps Research Institute and collaborated with Schultz on genetic research projects.

“Everybody loved him. Everybody respected him. He was larger than life, extremely smart and extremely kind,” Gvalia said.

Friends say Javakhishvili often spoke about his love of the ocean and flying, which was his passion. Photos show a smiling Javakhishvili sharing that passion, flying with his friends. He was always willing to take friends out on flights.

“His exit from his life is poetic for numerous reasons because, as hard as it is for me to accept it, he died doing the thing he loved doing,” Gvalia said.

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A video circulating online appears to show Brooklyn rapper Troy Ave, born Roland Collins, firing a handgun at a man believed to be attempting a robbery in San Diego.

The incident reportedly occurred in a parking lot or alleyway as Troy Ave returned from an event with celebrity chef and promoter Geoff Cole.

Security footage, shared on social media by Cole, shows an unidentified suspect approaching the pair at close range before Troy Ave is seen drawing a weapon and firing multiple shots. It remains unconfirmed whether the suspect was hit.

Cole praised the rapper in a now-deleted post, writing that Troy Ave “held it down” during a dangerous situation when others “would’ve run.”

This marks the rapper’s first reported firearm-related incident since his widely covered 2016 involvement in a shooting at a TI concert in New York. That event resulted in one death and multiple injuries. Troy Ave served time at Rikers Island and has been involved in multiple legal proceedings since.

As of now, the San Diego Police Department has not released an official statement. No arrests or charges related to this alleged shooting have been confirmed. Troy Ave’s team has not issued any public comment.

The footage continues to circulate online as viewers debate the legality and context of the incident. Authorities are expected to review surveillance and witness reports to determine next steps.

Indian astronaut Shubhanshu Shukla (Shux), who, along with three other Axiom-4 (Ax-4) crew members undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) at 4.45pm Monday, will return to Earth around 3pm Tuesday (July 15).“Ax-4 crew are on track to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and splash down off the coast of San Diego… Dragon will also announce its arrival with a brief sonic boom prior to splashing down in the Pacific Ocean,” SpaceX said Tuesday. Ground teams are continuously monitoring Grace — the Dragon capsule Shukla and other astronauts are travelling in — and will give multiple “go”, “no-go” commands until the de-orbit burn, scheduled for around 2.07pm on Tuesday (July 15). Among other things, the teams will check for weather conditions to ensure that both the crew and the recovery teams are able to operate safely at the recovery site, off the coast of California.“Key weather parametres that teams will watch out for will be that there’s no rain or lightning at the recovery site. They would also look at the wind speed, which should not be more than 10 miles per hour,” an Axiom representative had said Monday.About 50 minutes after the de-orbit burn, Grace will deploy the drogue parachutes, a minute before deploying the main parachutes. As per current plan, Grace is expected to splashdown.Upon splashdown, recovery teams will reach the capsule, perform safety checks, and prepare it for lifting onto the ship using a hydraulic cradle. Once this is complete, the first medical checks are completed, following which the crew is transported back to land on a helicopter and taken for further medical evaluations, mission debriefs, and recovery procedures. During their time at the ISS, the Ax-4 crew performed more than 60 experiments from 31 countries, including India, US, Poland, Hungary, UAE, among others. Seven of these were led by Isro.US astronaut Nichole Ayers, part of the Expedition 73 crew currently aboard the International Space Station (ISS), posted photographs of her giving the Axiom-4 crew members, including Shubhanshu Shukla, haircuts at the orbital lab. In her post on X, she said: “We said goodbye to our Ax4 friends today [July 14]. I was just reminiscing on the haircuts from last weekend! After a long quarantine, I think it was nice for them. We joked about how I might have a future in the haircutting business when I get back on Earth, but the reviews are still out.”