TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Pilot's Decisions, Malfunction Blamed In Tampa Plane Crash

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOSH POLTILOVE | The Tampa Tribune

Published: July 1, 2008

TAMPA - A pilot's poor decisions and a mechanical malfunction led a plane to crash while making an emergency landing at Peter O. Knight airport two years ago, according to the National Transportation Safety Board's final report on the crash, which was released this week.

On June 12, 2006, a Mediterranean fruit-fly eradication flight crashed through a fence, trees and a vehicle and, finally, into a house.

Pilot Steve Huisman died. Co-pilot Sean Launder was seriously injured. And Tom Tate's Davis Islands home was ruined.

According to the report, a device that controls the pitch of the Beechcraft King Air 90 turboprop's propellers failed to work properly. The pilot failed "to establish the airplane on a stabilized approach for a forced landing, resulting in the airplane landing on a taxiway near the departure end of the runway."

Also contributing to the crash were "the excessive approach airspeed and the failure of the captain to align the airplane with the runway for the forced landing," the report states.

Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at jpoltilove@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7691.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT