Crash at Cedar Key Airport

A single engine airplane landed at Cedar Key Airport without benefit of landing gear Sunday August 19. Although shaken,Ocala residents, pilot Terry Angelotti and his wife Beverly were not injured. However, the plane, a Mooney Eagle, suffered damage to its propeller, landing gear and, according to other pilots, probable engine damage. Damage estimate ranged from $40,000 to $60,000.

External damage to the Mooney four place plane is remarkable slight. Note the curved tips of the propellor.

An eyewitness, to the crash called emergency services about 11:30 AM immediately after the crash. Cedar Key Police and the Cedar Key Volunteer Fire Department arrived "instantly," according to the caller. The pilot told investigators that he was about to land when his collision avoidance system alert went off, warning of a second plane in the area. He speculated that a malfunction of his landing gear warning system had not alerted him to the failure of the landing gear to deploy. Angelotti had filled the plane`s fuel tanks in Dunellon prior to the short flight to Cedar Key. Had the wing tanks been punctured in the crash a very serious fire would have erupted. An FAA investigation is underway.

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