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Teen Injured In Plane Crash Undergoes Surgery

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By HOWARD ALTMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2008

Updated: 11/30/2008 12:10 am

Mitch Kirby, a passenger in a plane that crashed at Peter O. Knight Airport on Friday, underwent surgery Saturday on the broken bones in his left foot, according to his father.

"The bones were pretty badly shattered," says Hyde Kirby of his 19-year-old son. "They had to put pins in. His discharge has not yet been determined."

Kirby was in a plane piloted by plastic surgeon Dan Greenwald, who was flying an Extra 300 single-engine craft that left Peter O. Knight about 10:30 a.m. Friday, authorities said.

The aircraft, heading southwest, came in over the Port of Tampa about 11:14 a.m., clipped a 50-foot sailboat mast, hit the edge of the seawall of Seddon Channel and flipped over, landing on grassy airport property about 50 feet shy of the runway, Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade said.

He said the plane struck the mast of the Windseeker about 10 feet down. No one aboard the boat was hurt.

Greenwald, who was discharged from the hospital Saturday, came to visit, according to Hyde Kirby.

Kirby said his son met Greenwald through a local Princeton alumni chapter; the younger Kirby is a sophomore and Greenwald is a Princeton grad.

His son "has had a lifelong passion for flying," Kirby said, "and Greenwald has that joy of sharing that passion with people who want to learn the skill."

The elder Kirby said he does not know whether his son still has that passion.

"I don't know if it will change his enthusiasm," Kirby said. "This hasn't fully sent in. Only the future will tell."

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