Witnesses Saw Airplane On Fire As It Approached Tampa International Airport

The pilot of a single-engine airplane was rescued from the burning wreckage of his aircraft after it went down late Thursday night at Tampa International Airport in Florida.

According to a Tampa Police Department news release, Tampa Police Officers Dave Dennison and Brian Gentry were conducting aerial patrol when they heard a pilot calling distress with his single engine airplane. "The pilot crashed just inside airport property and the officers landed their helicopter near the wreckage. Officer Gentry extinguished the engine fire and extracted the unconscious pilot from the wreckage. The pilot was transported to the hospital by ambulance and is in stable condition. Tampa Airport Police in addition to Tampa Fire Rescue and Tampa Police are on scene of the crash," according to the release.

The Tampa Tribune reports that the pilot, identified as 58-year-old Mark E. Love of Tampa, never declared an emergency as he approached the airport, but Dennison, the pilot of the police helicopter, could tell from his communication with air traffic controllers that something was seriously wrong with the airplane.

Witnesses said they had seen the airplane with its entire front end on fire crossing an expressway near the airport.

Officer Gentry said that he wasn't particularly concerned about the fire, indicating that it appeared to be residual oil or fuel, and not something he felt would lead to an explosion. "That's Hollywood," he was quoted as saying. But he did say that the left door of the airplane was "pinned" and he could not get it open. He was concerned about going to the other side of the airplane because "I didn't know what was on the other side of the aircraft." He was able to get Love out from the passenger's side of the aircraft.

Tampa international airport officials said in a message on Twitter that Love is "injured, but OK." The plane, a Cessna 210N, was registered to Flight Express of Columbus, OH, which is a division of AirNet Cargo Charter Services. The company is a small package delivery service.

(Image from Tampa PD YouTube video)

FMI: Tampa Police YouTube video,  www.ntsb.gov