In its ongoing investigation into a midair collision that killed four people in Florida on July 17, the NTSB has reported that the two airplanes “converged nearly straight on.” The Piper PA-34-200 Seneca twin and Cessna 172N both were owned by the Dean International flight school, based at Miami Executive Airport (TMB). A private pilot was flying the twin, with a designated pilot examiner on board, and a student pilot and flight instructor were aboard the Skyhawk. Citing preliminary information from the FAA, the NTSB reported the Piper was en route to a nearby training area at an altitude about 1,500 feet MSL, flying northwest, and no longer communicating with the TMB tower, as it was outside the Class D airspace.
The Cessna was returning from the training area at an altitude about 1,500 feet MSL, flying southeast, and had contacted the TMB tower just prior to the collision. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed, the NTSB said, with visibility recorded as 10 statute miles. FAA and NTSB records show this was the third fatal crash for the flight school since 2013. Last week, the school’s owner, Robert Dean, said he would be closing down the school. About 200 students were enrolled there, most of them from Saudi Arabia, India and Latin America. The school has been in operation since 1995.
