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Ultralight crash kills father, son

Nick and Taylor Tedesco had taken off from Plant City.

By CHUIN-WEI YAP
Published October 22, 2006

CRYSTAL SPRINGS - When John Richmond heard a sputtering Saturday through the soupy morning fog, he suspected a plane starved for fuel.

"It didn't sound right to me," he said.

Minutes later came a big thud.

The crash of an ultralight plane in this remote section of southeast Pasco County killed Hillsborough County fire Capt. Nick Tedesco, 46, and his 17-year-old son, Taylor Tedesco.

The Tedescos took off in the home-built plane from the Blackwater Ultralight Flight Park in Plant City some time before 8:30 a.m. Investigators had no immediate answers about why the plane crashed.

Those who heard it said they also felt it.

"It fell out of the sky," said Walter "Bud" Linderman, who called 911.

A resident of the area for 18 years, Linderman guided police and rescue workers through thickets of the Southwest Florida Water Management District preserve. Linderman said he shouted randomly as they searched, in hope of hearing a response.

There was no reply.

Nearly an hour later, about a mile from Linderman's home, they found the ultralight, nose in the ground, on the edge of a 10-acre grassy pond.

"My understanding is that there wasn't any fire," Pasco sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said. "It just crashed."

Investigators did not know where the Tedescos were going. They were likely on a short pleasure flight, Tobin said.

"These ultralights don't carry a lot of fuel, so you would usually be going just to see some sights," he said.

Police said the ultralight may also have been flying blind.

"I don't believe there was any flight instrumentation," Pasco sheriff's Lt. Sandra Reed said. "I don't believe there was any communication (with any airports). There was no tail number. It was a recreational vehicle."

Flights across this stretch of rolling country are not unusual, neighbors said. It's a sparsely populated fringe of the Green Swamp, where homes sit on 20- or 30-acre lots.

"I've seen hang gliders, experimental planes, helicopters, C-130 military cargo planes," Richmond said. "It looks like Mad Max sometimes."

At Brandon's Fire Station 11, where Tedesco worked, the flag flew at half-staff Saturday afternoon as somber firefighters sat around it.

Tedesco had worked at the station for about a year but was a 25-year veteran with Hillsborough County Fire Rescue, said spokesman Ray Yeakley.

"He was just a great guy," said Michael Stokes, the acting battalion chief. "He was a man's man, a hard working guy.

"It hurts like family," said Stokes. "For us it's all family."

Stokes said Tedesco built the ultralight himself and "always liked tinkering with things."

Tedesco would talk to the guys at the station about the ultra-light plane, a hobby he'd just recently picked up, said Stokes. "Of course, everybody knows how dangerous those things are."

This was not the first crash in the area, said sheriff's spokeswoman Reed, though she had never encountered a fatal one before. She described the scene as obvious death. Tobin said the father and son were found lying together, one in front of the other.

Nearly four hours after the crash was reported, media helicopters circled the woods as deputies waited for forensics crews and the Federal Aviation Administration officials to arrive.

The FAA regulates ultralights, but such aircraft are not required to meet airworthiness certification standards.

Officials from the National Transportation Safety Board are expected to arrive this next week to examine the plane and its engine, which were removed late Saturday.

The Hillsborough County Fire Rescue hired Tedesco in 1981 and promoted him to captain in 1987.

He is survived by his wife, Maureen, and their younger son.

Staff Writer Amber Mobley contributed to this story. Chuin-Wei Yap can be reached at (813)909-4613 or cyap@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 22, 2006, 08:07:22]