Plane Bounces on Landing

Three people, including two physicians, died Saturday when their 2006 Columbia 350 bounced on landing at a private mountain airstrip, hit two other planes and all three caught fire, the FAA said.

Two other planes were damaged by heat and debris from the crash. They said no one on the ground was injured in the accident.

Saturday's 10:15 am crash occurred at Mountain Air Country Club and Airport, a private golf development, reported the Associated Press.

The Mountain Air resort sits at 4,400 feet AGL and has a 2,875-foot runway. The Asheville Citizen-Times reports that it is the highest elevation landing strip east of the Mississippi River; while pictures from the airstrip's Web site show clouds below the runway in a nearby valley.

The four-seat, single-engine Columbia was registered to Freddy Camuzzi, Largo, FL, according to the FAA Web site. Dr. Camuzzi was a urologist from St. Petersburg, FL. His passengers included Dr. Charles Freeble III, a cardiologist also from St. Petersburg, and his wife Kathleen Freeble. Both physicians worked at St. Petersburg General Hospital.

Both men were pilots. The Tampa Bay Times reported that Freeble was a certified flying instructor, while Camuzzi had flown out of St. Petersburg's Albert Whitted Airport for at least 20 years.

"He loved to fly, "Albert Whitted operator Ron Methot said of Camuzzi. "Any chance he could, he got away from the home drama of work and life. It was always his passion."

The two men had co-owned at least two planes, including the $500,000 Columbia, and often flew together, friends said.

On this trip, Camuzzi and Freeble were heading to a home Camuzzi owns at the remote community to spend the Memorial Day weekend. Flight records show the two men left Albert Whitted around 8 am Saturday.

The crash is being investigated by both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov, www.mountainaircc.com