Plane crashes into Tampa building (next door to mine)!
Jan 5, 2002, 4:18 pm
#1
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Plane crashes into Tampa building (next door to mine)!
A private plane piloted by a 15 year old has crashed into the Bank of America tower in downtown Tampa. There appear to be no casualities in the building itself, no word on the teen and/or a possible instructor.
I work in the building right next door (Amsouth--tallest in Tampa). Very scary.
I work in the building right next door (Amsouth--tallest in Tampa). Very scary.
Jan 5, 2002, 4:26 pm
#2
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Jan 5, 2002, 4:46 pm
#4
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A picture is available at:
www.tampatribune.com
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www.tampatribune.com
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Jan 5, 2002, 5:07 pm
#5
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This is too weird
The student and instructor (presumably) pilot departed without proper clearance so the control tower sent up the coast guard -
Now this is weird # 1 - an instructor a) knows how to get clearance and b) would certainly respond w/out control having to send up the Coast Guard?
The coast guard was instructing the plane to land at a nearby airport - and instead it ended up in a building.
And this is weird #2 - that building looked to me like (from a different picture) that it would have been pretty easy to miss - certainly by an instructor, assuming he could take over the controls.
This strike anyone else as very strange?
The student and instructor (presumably) pilot departed without proper clearance so the control tower sent up the coast guard -
Now this is weird # 1 - an instructor a) knows how to get clearance and b) would certainly respond w/out control having to send up the Coast Guard?
The coast guard was instructing the plane to land at a nearby airport - and instead it ended up in a building.
And this is weird #2 - that building looked to me like (from a different picture) that it would have been pretty easy to miss - certainly by an instructor, assuming he could take over the controls.
This strike anyone else as very strange?
Jan 5, 2002, 5:09 pm
#6
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by svpii:
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This strike anyone else as very strange?</font>
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This strike anyone else as very strange?</font>
Jan 5, 2002, 5:16 pm
#7
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It appears that there was no instructor, and that the 15 year old (from Palm Harbor, student at East Bay High School) stole the plane. Possibly he was going up with an instructor, the instructor told him to "preflight," and the boy just "took off".
Jan 5, 2002, 7:09 pm
#11
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by afang:
15 year old flying!? isn't he/she too young to fly?</font>
15 year old flying!? isn't he/she too young to fly?</font>
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">From the FOXNews.com article:
Federal Aviation Authority spokesman Scott
Brenneer said the plane was flown by "a student pilot who did not have permission to fly the aircraft." An official in Washington said the pilot was 15 years old — a year too young to qualify as a solo pilot.
</font>
Federal Aviation Authority spokesman Scott
Brenneer said the plane was flown by "a student pilot who did not have permission to fly the aircraft." An official in Washington said the pilot was 15 years old — a year too young to qualify as a solo pilot.
</font>
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Jan 5, 2002, 8:59 pm
#13
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And why did the tower call the "Coast Guard" ? Not the Air Force or the other "appropriate" officials? If this was done on a weekday and the building was full ... Well I'm sure glad we are spending all that money on highly trained airport security. Oh wait, we're not. You don't even need a high school diploma anymore. Imagine all those parents yelling at their kids to finish high school. Now the kids can tell them they can work for the federal government, with all its perks and benefits, and they don't even *need* to finish high school. The entire situation AND response is pathetic and embarrassing.
Jan 5, 2002, 9:27 pm
#14
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Actually, it appears that both the Coast Guard and Air Force responded. From CNN:
As the plane took off, air-traffic control alerted the U.S. Coast Guard, which dispatched a helicopter to intercept the Cessna, said Lt. Charlotte Pittman of the Coast Guard. The helicopter's crew, yards away from the Cessna, signaled for it to land at an airport just south of Tampa. Instead, the airplane struck the building without appearing to try to avoid it, witnesses said.
The unauthorized take-off also prompted authorities to scramble two F-15 jets. The jets, part of the 125th Fighter Wing based at Homestead Air Force Base in Miami, Florida, arrived at the west-central Florida city within moments, but not before the Cessna had crashed, said Capt. Richard Bittner, the base's public information officer.
As the plane took off, air-traffic control alerted the U.S. Coast Guard, which dispatched a helicopter to intercept the Cessna, said Lt. Charlotte Pittman of the Coast Guard. The helicopter's crew, yards away from the Cessna, signaled for it to land at an airport just south of Tampa. Instead, the airplane struck the building without appearing to try to avoid it, witnesses said.
The unauthorized take-off also prompted authorities to scramble two F-15 jets. The jets, part of the 125th Fighter Wing based at Homestead Air Force Base in Miami, Florida, arrived at the west-central Florida city within moments, but not before the Cessna had crashed, said Capt. Richard Bittner, the base's public information officer.
Jan 5, 2002, 9:32 pm
#15
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<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by keithnj973:
Well I'm sure glad we are spending all that money on highly trained airport security.</font>
Well I'm sure glad we are spending all that money on highly trained airport security.</font>
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