Small Plane’s Pilot Got Warning Before He Struck Jetliner

An Eastern Airlines pilot flying his private plane to work earlier this month was warned by air traffic controllers about dense fog almost three minutes before his plane slammed into a jetliner on a Tampa International Airport taxiway, federal transcripts revealed Friday.

The Federal Aviation Administration released transcripts of communications between the control tower and Capt. William Bain, 53, of North Fort Myers, who was killed in the Nov. 6 accident.

The last transmission from Bain, two minutes before impact, was to acknowledge the report from the tower telling him runway visibility was only 600 feet, according to the transcripts.

The next voice on the tape is Pan American World Airways Capt. Ed Lunsford, whose Flight 301 bound for Miami was taxiing.

“Hello. Hello. Mayday. Mayday. Clipper’s been hit by a light airplane on the taxiway,” Lunsford told the tower at 7:05 a.m., asking for emergency equipment. None of the 17 passengers or six crew members were seriously injured.

FAA regulations require a pilot to be able to see at least 1,800 feet down the runway when the pilot reaches “a decision height” of 212 feet above the ground. But it is the pilot who decides whether to land.

Bain tried to land, but the tapes give no indication that he knew he was about to crash.

Crash investigators acknowledged they are studying whether Bain pressed on because he was running late for work.