Monday night's plane crash into a Publix supermarket reignited debate over the need for a control tower at the DeLand airport.
Ron Levy built an experimental plane in his own garage.
He flew into the DeLand airport Wednesday and saw a gaping hole in the Publix supermarket roof.
The crash triggered a fire, injuring the pilot, co-pilot and three others in the store.
Since little was left of the craft, the National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation turns to electronics on the plane to see if the pilot transmitted information seconds before the crash.
It was not transmitted to a control tower because the DeLand airport the pilot took off from does not have one.
"The FAA or the government was talking about putting a tower here," Levy said.
That was back in 2008. However, a tower was never built, leaving some to wonder if tower personnel could've made a difference.
"It possibly could've gotten a fire truck or something out there quicker because there's a possibility that the pilots would've told the tower that he had just taken off and he has an emergency and was gonna turn around and come back and land," Levy said.
Construction of a tower triggered a debate that pitted pilots against skydivers.
Pilots argued air traffic control was needed, while skydivers said a tower would bring business to a crawl.
Deland city officials said they do not foresee building a tower, but the new debate continues as to whether or not a control tower would have made a difference in Monday's crash.
"I don't think that guy really had much time to do anything or change anything,” said Pete Putnam, a pilot. “If his engine quit at a low altitude, it all happened very fast."
New Smyrna Beach and Ormond Beach airports have towers and are about the same size as DeLand's.
However, those two airports do not have a flourishing skydiving business.
Source: http://www.cfnews13.com
FAA IDENTIFICATION
Regis#: UNK Make/Model: EXP Description: SEAWIND 3000
Date: 04/03/2012 Time: 0000
Event Type: Accident Highest Injury: None Mid Air: N Missing: N
Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
City: DELAND State: FL Country: US
DESCRIPTION
AIRCRAFT, REGISTRATION UNKNOWN, CRASHED ONTO A ROOF OF A SUPERMARKET, AND
BURNED, THE 2 PERSONS ON BOARD SUSTAINED UNKNOWN INJURIES, EXTENT OF
INJURIES TO PERSONS ON THE GROUND UNKNOWN, DELAND, FL
INJURY DATA Total Fatal: 0
# Crew: 2 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: 2
# Pass: 0 Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk:
# Grnd: Fat: 0 Ser: 0 Min: 0 Unk: 3
OTHER DATA
Activity: Unknown Phase: Unknown Operation: OTHER
FAA FSDO: ORLANDO, FL (SO15) Entry date: 04/04/2012
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