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Plane crashes into Davis Islands home

By ABBIE VANSICKLE, BRADY DENNIS and REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published June 12, 2006

TAMPA  — Before the twin-engine plane plowed into her living room on Davis Islands, Cynthia Tate had savored a quiet, rainy morning.

It was her day off, her biggest problem a rowdy dog. She flipped on the television for a weather update.
Then she heard a bang, saw a flash.

“As it hit the house, it exploded,” she recalled later, as her husband, Tom, cradled her in his arms. “Then, I ran out the door. All I could think about was the pilot.”

The pilot, Steve Huisman, 41, of Bradenton died in the crash, said Tampa Fire Rescue Capt. Bill Wade. Co-pilot Sean Launder, 25, suffered severe burns and was taken to Tampa General Hospital, Wade said. He was listed in serious condition Monday evening, said a hospital spokeswoman.

Mrs. Tate was the only person inside the yellow, wood-framed house at 629 E Davis Blvd. The home was destroyed.

Mrs. Tate wasn’t injured, but family pets were inside, including two dogs, Jack and Vinnie.

Emergency workers discovered the bodies of one dead dog and a cat inside the home, Wade said. The whereabouts of the other dog was unclear.

Just what happened inside the cockpit of the Beechcraft KingAir 90, a 1967 model plane, wasn’t clear, but investigators say the plane took off from Sarasota Bradenton International Airport just before 10:30 a.m. Monday.

Huisman and Launder were releasing sterilized Mediterranean fruit flies as part of a plan to limit the fly population, Wade said. The plane was scheduled to make a loop, starting and returning at Sarasota, he said.

Huisman didn’t indicate any problems during takeoff, said Bob Mattingly, director of operations and maintenance for the Sarasota Manatee Airport Authority.

But something went wrong along the way. By the time the plane neared Tampa on its return to Sarasota, the pilot reported a fuel problem, said Laura Brown, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Aviation officials guided the plane for an emergency landing at Peter O. Knight Airport, a small facility on the southern side of Davis Islands.

Just after 12:30 p.m., the plane skidded off the runway and ripped through about 100 feet of grass before it tore open a fence, hit a tree and careened into the Tates’ home.

Witnesses told investigators at least one part of the plane’s retractable landing gear did not go down and one engine wasn’t running, Wade said.

Moments before the crash, Bill Povey, 66, was standing under his porch, watching the rain from Tropical Storm Alberto pouring down.

“I heard an airplane, and I thought, 'Who’s flying in this weather?’” he recalled.

Then he heard an engine sputter. He watched as the plane broke through the wall of his neighbors’ home, exploding into an enormous fireball.

Mrs. Tate ran from the home and collapsed beneath a palm tree in her yard, he said. He ran to her and helped her across the street. She told him her dogs, a Schnauzer and a Chihuahua mix, were still inside.

Povey said he and a few other neighbors broke down the door, hoping to find the dogs. But the thick, dark smoke kept pouring from the opening, and they couldn’t see anything.

The crash happened a block from Tampa Fire Station 17, and trucks went to the scene immediately.

A steady stream of police cars and firefighters from other areas sped through downtown Tampa toward Davis Islands.

Rain poured down on the rescue workers, neighbors and curious onlookers who flocked to the scene. Many neighbors stood outside under porches or umbrellas, cell phones pressed to their ears.

At the time of the crash, Mrs. Tate’s husband, Tom, was working at the family’s pizza shop, Tate Brothers Pizza, on Davis Islands.

Just after 12:30 p.m., a woman ran inside, he recalled. “She said, 'A plane hit your house. Your house is on fire,’” he recalled.

He immediately headed home. He stood across the street, watching as fire crews tried to put out the flames. He wrapped his wife in a raincoat and held her tightly as the rain pelted them.

Mayor Pam Iorio showed up at the scene, took a look at the damage, then quickly sought out Tate.

“Are you okay? Are you all right?” the mayor asked. The two embraced, and Tate broke down in tears.

“Thank God you’re all right,” Iorio said. “Thank God you’re all right. I’m so sorry. I really am.”

The cause of the crash is under investigation by the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Dynamic Aviation, a leasing company from Bridgewater, Va., is listed as owner of the plane.

Flight operations manager Rick Roof said he did not know anything about the cause of the crash. He said he could not answer questions about the plane’s history or whether it has ever had any serious mechanical problems.

Monday’s crash is not the first at the airport.

In April 2004, a Cessna 177RG crashed into Seddon Channel, killing two South Florida men, Lawrence Soojin Koh, 44, and Adam Brice Sprague, 23. The NTSB said the crash was caused by improper maintenance of a key part of the single engine’s ignition system.

In October 2004, two sisters climbed out of their small plane after it nose-dived into the Seddon Channel. The plane’s pilot had reported problems just before taking off at the airport.

About an hour after Monday’s crash, Trish Lawson and Teasha McMillion smoked cigarettes on the covered porch of Tate Brothers Pizza and fielded phone calls from out-of-state family.

The women, frequent patrons of the pizza joint and bar, recalled how the Tates opened their doors during recent hurricanes, letting locals run tabs and drink wine and warm beer by candlelight.

Now fellow islanders will return the generosity, the women said.

“It’s all family,” Lawson said.

“Everybody takes care of everybody here,” McMillion said. “Goes without saying.”

Staff writers Colleen Jenkins and Kevin Graham and researcher Cathy Wos contributed to this report. Abbie VanSickle can be reached at 226-3373 or vansickle@sptimes.com. 

[Last modified June 12, 2006, 21:33:51]