TBO.com > News > Latest News Reports
- Moffitt Among Quarterfinalists For Lott Award
- Two Women Thrown From Boat When It Hits I-75 Bridge
- Judge Imposes Stay On Lethal Injections
- Poll: More Coastal Residents Would Not Evacuate For Hurricane
- Robbers In Ninja Garb Strike Hampton Inn
- Deputy Is Accused Of Domestic Battery
- 2 Men Burst Into Home, Steal More Than $7,000
- Temple Terrace Man Wounded In Shooting
- Polk Deputies Charge 17 Men After Weekend Cockfight
- Baby Dropped Off At Fire Station
- Jury Awards $21.1 Million In Wrongful Birth Case
- Deputies Investigate Bank Robbery
- Grandpa Robbed; Grandson Charged
- Composite Sketch Of Armed Carjacker Released
- Progress Village Homicide Victim ID’d
Photo by Tampa Police Department
News Channel 8 Video | Mayor Talks About the Crash
By JOSH POLTILOVE, TED JACKOVICS, JANET WEAVER & WILL RODGERS
The Tampa Tribune
DAVIS ISLANDS - A twin-engine airplane flying a Medfly eradication program over Tampa crashed into a home on Davis Islands just before 1 p.m. Monday, after encountering an in-flight mechanical problem and skidding off a runway while attempting to land at Peter O. Knight Airport.
One person was killed and one person was injured in the crash of the Beechcraft King Air 90 twin-engine turboprop, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said. The home’s occupant escaped shaken but unharmed.
The pilot, Steve Huisman, 41, of Bradenton, was killed, and the co-pilot, Sean Launder, 25, of Sarasota, was seriously injured, Fire Capt. Bill Wade said. The co-pilot was at Tampa General Hospital. Meanwhile, two firefighters were treated and released from Tampa General Hospital with what Tampa Fire Department spokesman Bill Wade described as minor injuries. Johnny Primus, an 8-year department veteran, hurt his ankle. Debris fell on Mark Chapman, who has been with the department 22 years.
The aircraft owned and flown by Virginia-based Dynamic Aviation for the U.S. Department of Agriculture was on a flight out of Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport from the Virginia aviation company’s Florida base, according to Ron Ciaravella, president of Dolphin Aviation, a fixed base operator at the airport on the Manatee-Sarasota county lines.
The president of Dynamic Aviation was not available for comment late Monday afternoon.
Preliminary reports indicated the pilot reported a mechanical problem with the aircraft’s fuel system, Brown said.
The National Transportation Safety Board, which will become the lead federal agency for the crash investigation, said the pilot reported the aircraft lost power in one engine.
“We have reports the plane was on its way to Plant City, and we diverted it to Peter O. Knight,” Brown said.
Peter O. Knight is not equipped with a control tower. Aircraft landing there fly on a “see and be seen basis.
Weather information is provided by an automated system, but no information was immediately available about what weather conditions at the time of the attempted landing.
No information was immediately regarding weather conditions upon takeoff from Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport, nor whether the aircraft was flying under instrument or visual flight rules on a day when the early portions of Tropical Storm Alberto moved into Tampa Bay.
Shortly after the plane hit her home, Cynthia Tate sat huddled under a blanket on her neighbors’ front porch, tears streaming down her face. It was shortly before 1 p.m.
“The dogs, the dogs,’’ she said, wondering about her pets, who presumed dead.
Moments earlier, Tate had been alone with the dogs and a Siamese cat in her Davis Island home on 629 E. Davis Boulevard when she looked out her window and saw an airplane headed for the house.
Friends handed her bottled water and offered words of comfort: At least her family was safe. Her three children and her husband, who owns Tate Brothers Pizza on East Davis Boulevard, were not home at the time.
“Yes, thank you God, my children weren’t home,’’ said Tate, 44, “But how can I be so selfish – there were people on that plane, and I couldn’t do a thing except run for my life.’’
At about 1 p.m., Bill Povey, who lives across the street from Tate, was offering shelter from the pouring rain to Tate, other neighbors and a gaggle of reporters. Povey saw the plane slam into Tate’s house.
He said he heard the plane first, “And I said, ‘who is flying in this weather?’ Then it hit and slid into the house and there was just a tremendous explosion, flames twice the size of the house. It was just huge.’’
Povey said he took off across the street to get to Tate, hoping she wasn’t hurt. He found her right at the curb in front of her home, kneeling on the ground.
“I asked her if anyone else was home, and then I just grabbed her and we ran.’’
As Povey finished telling his story, a heavy cloud of thick black smoke from Tate’s house billowed across the street. Before he turned to go inside his home, Tate walked up to him and put her arms around him.
“Bill, thank you, thank you so much. Thank God you were here.’’
Federal records indicate the plane, with tail number N7043G, is a twin-prop Beech 65-A90-1. It is registered to Dynamic Aviation Group in Bridgewater, Va..
The NTSB sent an investigator from its Miami office Monday to begin assessing the crash, NTSB spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said from Washington.
“â€,Basicallly, the investigator will look at the wreckage and go through the airplane and see if there was a pre-impact problem with the aircraft,’’ Lopatkiewicz said.
The invsestigator will decide what equipment such as the engine should be tested, he said.
The preliminary report would take between fie to 10 days, Lopatkiewicz said
Police and firefighters have cordoned off the area as they begin to investigate the cause of the crash.
Stay with TBO.com for developments.
Why was this plane allowed to fly in this weather?
I knew the crews of Dynamic Aviation very well as I used to take care of and occasionally fly their airplanes with them as a sit in co pilot. They have a spectacular record and their staff are very talented. My heart goes out to to the family of the captain as he was known and liked in the Sarasota aviation community. God bless.
God bless those hurt by this even I personally know all of the pilotas at that company and my heart goes out to the families of all involved though I find it immature that when humans have been injured and killed people can be worried about those of the kanine species soo much.
Thank God no one was injured. I Pray that the Tates Dogs are found and in good health.
Thank you for clarifying that the address may or may not be the site of the accident. It means a lot to the people that know that address. Our family member called in a 911 call earlier this year and it was reported that the fire was at the given address and that someone had died. We are all fortunate that no one was injured when they heard the news over the radio and recognized the address.
Advertisement
Posted by Ryan Spellman, Sarasota on 06/13 at 07:02 AM
METAR repots at the time of departure indicated ample conditions to make the MED Fly drop they were in route to make over Plant City, this is an absolutely normal weather condition to fly in. The fact that one engine was inoperative at the time will be ruled a key factor in the overrun no doubt because when flying this aircraft type the main source of deceleration that we use is something called reverse pitch on the prop which is basically reverse thrust in a way. When one engine is inopp. we cannot do this to decelerate.