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Plane flips on landing; pilot hurt
By BRADY DENNIS © St. Petersburg Times, published October 3, 2000 NEW PORT RICHEY -- A pilot escaped serious injury and his passenger was unharmed when a homemade, single-engine plane flipped onto its roof during a rough landing Monday afternoon at an airstrip in Hidden Lakes Estates. The passenger, 63-year-old Bill Hughes of Palm Harbor, said he was at the private airstrip Monday morning when pilot Alvin Kemmet, 64, of Holiday invited him to fly to lunch in Cross City, roughly 100 miles away in Dixie County. Although both men own planes at the airstrip, Hughes said, they were only acquaintances. Hughes said he and Kemmet flew in Kemmet's Tango 2 plane to a restaurant at the Cross City airport. They were returning to Hidden Lakes shortly after 1 p.m. when the accident occurred. "I was worried because it didn't look like a good approach," said Hughes, who said he has been a pilot about 10 years. "It was a bad landing." The plane landed hard on the runway, collapsing the nose gear, according to both Hughes and Pasco Sheriff's Office deputies on the scene. The plane, which Hughes said Kemmet had built from a kit earlier this year, veered off the runway. The nose dug into the ground, flipping the plane onto its roof. "My first thought was to get the hell out of there," Hughes said. "I kicked my way out of there and crawled out." He said he tried to help Kemmet out of the plane for about 10 minutes before police arrived. Kemmet was taken to North Bay Hospital, where he was still being treated Monday evening. Although deputies conducted alcohol tests, Hughes said neither he nor Kemmet had been drinking. The Federal Aviation Administration began an investigation of the incident late Monday afternoon.
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From today's Pasco Times |
