Fly-In Pilot Crash-Lands In Car Lot
By Billy Townsend, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Apr. 19–LAKELAND — A small airplane crash-landed Wednesday morning in the parking lot of the Geico insurance building just southeast of Lakeland Linder Regional Airport.
The pilot, identified as Jim Goodyear, 57, of Newton, Ala., was airlifted to Lakeland Regional Medical Center, where he was in stable condition, Lakeland police spokesman Jack Gillen said. Goodyear was alone in the aircraft.
No one was injured on the ground, and only one vehicle appeared to be damaged. The crash happened just after 11 a.m.
The Geico building is in the air traffic pattern for the Paradise City section of the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, which is in full swing at the airport this week.
During Sun ‘n Fun, Paradise City functions like an airport within an airport for pilots of ultralight and light sport aircraft such as the Hummel Bird Goodyear was flying. They use a grass landing strip and fly in a rectangular pattern along the southeastern edge of the airport. The Geico building sits at the eastern edge of the rectangle.
Lakeland police investigators pointed to visible tire tracks in the parking lot’s asphalt as evidence that the pilot tried to land in a long open stretch of pavement between two lines of parked vehicles.
The plane appeared to tip onto its front before coming to rest against several vehicles.
A Federal Aviation Administration official is investigating the crash, Lakeland police said. There was no immediate indication of what forced down the plane, which looks like a miniature version of the typical fixed-wing, single-engine aircraft covered in thin sheet metal. The word “experimental” was stenciled clearly on the side of its fuselage.
In the aftermath, the thin metal covering the engine compartment was left crumpled and shredded. The plane eventually was loaded on a flatbed truck and removed from the Geico property.
Earlier in the day, in a less severe incident, a Cirrus SR 22 piloted by Richard Demartino of Palm Bay ran off the side of a taxiway and into a ditch, Gillen said.
Neither Demartino nor any of his passengers were injured, but a crane was needed to remove the plane. The FAA is investigating.
On Monday, two men were killed when their plane crashed on their approach to Lakeland Linder for the Fly-In.
Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.
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Copyright (c) 2007, Tampa Tribune, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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