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Small Plane Crashes Into Bay, Killing 3

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By GEORGE WILKENS, The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 13, 2008

ST. PETERSBURG - A single-engine plane on approach to St. Petersburg/Clearwater International Airport on Saturday afternoon plunged into Tampa Bay, killing the pilot and his parents.

The Cessna 172-L is registered to the Pinellas Pilots Association, a Clearwater corporation established in 1998 to reduce the costs of renting an aircraft, the group's Web site says.

Late Saturday, Pinellas County sheriff's spokesman Jim Bordner identified the victims as pilot Joseph P. Bellamy, 31, of 5935 76th Ave. N., Pinellas Park, and passengers Gordon D. Bellamy, 55, and Susan C. Bellamy, 53, of Palatka.

The plane crashed about 100 yards from the start of Runway 22, which is devoted to general aviation, said Tom Iovino, spokesman for Pinellas County, which owns the airport.

St. Petersburg Fire Department divers recovered the three bodies shortly after the 3:39 p.m. crash, Iovino said. Authorities think the three were the only ones aboard the four-seat aircraft.

Bordner, the sheriff's spokesman, said the pilot had reserved the aircraft for the day, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. He said Bellamy's parents drove from their Putnam County home to take a Tampa Bay area sightseeing flight with their son.

The weather was clear and there were no indications the aircraft was in trouble, Iovino said.

"Communication from the tower to the plane was normal; no emergency, no sign of distress," he said. "It was a nice day. The weather was fine for flying."

No flight plan was filed. The aircraft was operating under visual flight rules, which is routine for small civilian aircraft, Iovino said.

The crash scene was secured to await investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board, scheduled to visit the scene today.

"I assume they will have to lift it out of the water" at that time, Iovino said of the wreckage.

He said there was no oil sheen visible on the surface of the bay, indicating the aircraft was not leaking gasoline or other fluids.

Comprehensive crash investigations by the FAA and the NTSB routinely take months.

FAA records show the Cessna was manufactured in 1972.

According to the Pinellas Pilots Association Web site, the aircraft is based at the St. Petersburg/Clearwater airport, and is the only plane the organization owns.

Airport director Noah Lagos said the crash was witnessed by flight controllers in the tower, who alerted the airport fire department.

Lagos, who later observed the crash scene from a bucket atop a fire department ladder truck, said the water was shallow, but the high-wing aircraft was barely visible. Lagos said he could make out the silhouette of the wings.

The Cessna 172, the world's most popular mass-produced aircraft, is used extensively for flight training, according to the Air Safety Foundation. About 43,000 have been sold since the model's debut in 1956.

The Cessna 172 has a good safety record compared with other light four-seat aircraft, with about 200 of them involved in reportable accidents every year, the agency states.

Efforts to reach officers of the Pinellas Pilots Association were unsuccessful.

Reporter George Wilkens can be reached at (813) 865-4847 or gwilkens@tampatrib.com.

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