One person was killed and another injured in a small plane crash at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg on Wednesday afternoon.
The plane ascended to a height of 50 to 100 feet and nose-dived into the runway, according to St. Petersburg Police spokesperson Mike Puetz. He said a witness told officers the plane sputtered before crashing into runway #25.
Teddy Young was working at The Hangar Restaurant that overlooks the runway and watched the crash. "When it landed, it landed just like that, on the top," he said. "The guy who was still in the plane just really didn't have much of a chance."
The two men onboard were taken from the plane and rushed to Bayfront Medical Center.
The man believed to have piloted the plane, James Allen Finnegan, 79, of St. Petersburg, was pronounced dead. According to Puetz, Finnegan had previous flight experience, but had not piloted a plane for number of years and was taking refresher training instruction at the time of the crash.
A neighbor, Ed Alex, said Finnegan was a nice man, was proud of his home renovations and passionate about cars. "He's very active for a man in his 70s," he said. Another neighbor said Finnegan loved to fly and was excited to be brushing up on his flight skills.
The passenger and instructor, James Patrick Murphy, 37, of St. Petersburg, sustained what appear to be non-life threatening. He spoke to investigators.
The FAA has been notified and their investigators will determine the cause of the crash. The aircraft is a Luscombe, Model 8A, two-seat, single-engine aircraft built in 1947.