South Jersey Man Killed In Ethiopian Airlines Crash Remembered As Humanitarian, Environmentalist Who Wanted To Change World

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SEA ISLE CITY, N.J. (CBS) - One of the Americans killed in Sunday's plane crash in Ethiopia is a Cape May County native. The victim has been identified as 43-year-old Matt Vecere.

Ethiopian Airlines Crash Kills 157 People, Eight Americans 

The Sea Isle City native, who lived in California, was one of eight Americans killed on Flight 302. His employer released a statement Monday confirming the IQAir writer was on the flight.

Vecere was an avid surfer and even taught lessons at the Heritage Surf Shop in Sea Isle City, where his friends remembered him fondly as someone who wanted to change the world.

They're memories that span more than three decades, back to when Vecere was a preteen Sea Isle City surfer.

"He was probably about 10, 11 years old, there was a group of kids here that were pretty good surfers, and us having the surf shop, they all gravitated to the store and he wanted to be on the surf team," Brian Heritage of Heritage's Surf Shop said.

Vecere's love of surfing included a love for the environment.

"Matt's soul was a surfer's soul," Heritage said. "Surfers are adventuresome by nature, we're environmentalist by nature."

Those passions brought the former Stockton student to the West Coast, where he worked in surf and environmental journalism and marketing.

He was also a champion for social justice and frequently took trips to Haiti to help with humanitarian relief.

Last week, Vecere set out on a new adventure to attend the United Nations Environment Assembly in Kenya. But his trip and life was cut short when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed, killing all 157 people on board.

"He would always come back with ideas about how other people could get involved," Vecere's best friend John DiGenni said.

DiGenni, speaking on behalf of the victim's family, said everyone knew that Vecere is devastated by his death. But they hope his passion for improving the world will still impact others as they learn more about the tragic crash.

"If Matt was here, he'd think it's silly we're talking about him, but if the spotlight is there, he'd want you to say, "Go out and do something for somebody else,'" DiGenni said.

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Meanwhile, investigators are hoping to learn more about the flight after recovering the black boxes.

Since the crash, more than a dozen airlines outside the U.S. have grounded the Boeing 737 Max 8. Sunday's crash killed all 157 on board.

Southwest, American and United are sticking with the aircraft, and the FAA is urging patience, saying it does not have enough information about what happened.

The same plane model, operated by Lion Air, crashed off Indonesia last year, killing all 189 people on board.

Late Monday, Boeing announced plans to release a software upgrade to the plane in the coming weeks.