From the time he was a tiny boy in Charlotte, David Seth Mitchell dreamed of becoming a pilot. He died last week in a remote area of Afghanistan, still pursuing that passion.

Mitchell, 30, a captain in the Marines, was among four U.S. military personnel killed in Afghanistan on Oct. 26, when two helicopters collided in midair. Ten Americans were killed in a separate helicopter crash, making it the deadliest day for U.S. forces in Afghanistan in four years.

Mitchell had been a Marine since 2001 and had served two previous tours in Iraq before being sent to Afghanistan two months ago. He was a native of Charlotte but moved to Ohio with his family when he was 12. His parents, Steve and Connie Mitchell, now live in Cary.

"From the time he was a very, very young boy, he used to point at airplanes at the little municipal airport," Steve Mitchell said last week. "He always wanted to be a pilot."

And Mitchell, known to his friends and family as Seth, was relentless in pursuit of his goals.

In high school in Ohio, he played varsity football, ran track and became senior class president. He went to Virginia Tech on an ROTC scholarship and joined the Marines as soon as he graduated in 2001.

He graduated from Officer Candidate School on Sept. 10, the day before terrorists leveled the World Trade Center.

His father said his achievements did not come easily. He struggled with athletics and academics. And unlike many other graduates, he did not become a pilot right out of college. It took him four years to earn his way into the job.

"None of the things that Seth achieved were natural abilities," Steve Mitchell said. "They were things that he worked at."

During his time in the Marines, he won 10 medals and commendations.

Most recently, he was stationed at Camp Pendleton, near San Diego. When he wasn't working, his father said, Mitchell loved to hike, fish and ski. When he visited North Carolina, he would take spur-of-the-moment road trips with his younger brother, who is 20.

Since being deployed to a remote area of Afghanistan, he was able to send only occasional e-mails that revealed little, his father said. "Everything was always just fine," Steve Mitchell said.

Last week, he and another pilot were flying a Cobra attack helicopter before dawn over the southern Afghan province of Helmand in support of combat operations. Military officials have said they aren't sure which man was at the helm when they collided with another helicopter.

The crash killed three other men and wounded two.