SALISBURY, Md. — "Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks" star William "Willbilly" Hathaway died in a car crash Saturday afternoon in Salisbury, Maryland, according to the state police.
Hathaway, 36, called his wife right after the accident and told her another driver made a sudden turn in front of him forcing him into a ditch, but that he was OK, according to WBOC-TV, but by the time EMS arrived Hathaway was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at a local medical center.
Investigators told WBOC the airbags in Hathaway's Toyota pickup had not deployed.
The fishing community in Ocean City, which Hathaway was part of, released a statement on his death in a Facebook post.
"He was an exceptional human being whose passion was the sea. He always brightened the day of anyone he met," the statement said.
The group is raising money for Hathaway's wife, Mary Malone Hathaway, and the couple's daughter, Molly Jean.
Hathaway’s “Wicked Tuna” co-star Nicholas “Duffy” Fudge, 28, also died this year, unexpectedly over the summer.