I believe he suffered permanent paralysis after hitting the cockpit dashboard during the crash, but I'm to be corrected.

RIP Captain Al, gone but not forgotten.

To paraphrase something I saw elsewhere this morning:
"Great old pilots never die, they just go on to fly at a much higher altitude"

Links to a documentary ( 6 parts) with Denny Fitch in this article

https://www.flyingmag.com/pilots-pla...fitch-dies-69/