Peter O. Knight Airport

Infobox Airport
name = Peter O. Knight Airport


IATA = TPF
ICAO = KTPF
FAA = TPF
type = Public
owner = Hillsborough County Aviation Authority
operator =
city-served = Tampa, Florida
location =
elevation-f = 8
elevation-m = 2
coordinates = coord|27|54|56|N|082|26|57|W|region:US_type:airport_scale:10000
website =
r1-number = 3/21
r1-length-f = 3,405
r1-length-m = 1,038
r1-surface = Asphalt
r2-number = 17/35
r2-length-f = 2,688
r2-length-m = 819
r2-surface = Asphalt
stat-year = 1999
stat1-header = Aircraft operations
stat1-data = 66,000
stat2-header = Based aircraft
stat2-data = 102
footnotes = Source: Federal Aviation AdministrationFAA-airport|ID=TPF|use=PU|own=PU|site=03519.*A, effective 2008-06-05]

Peter O. Knight Airport airport codes|TPF|KTPF|TPF is an airport on Davis Island, five minutes from downtown Tampa, Florida. Built as a Works Progress Administration project, it was Tampa's main airport from 1935 to 1945, and is still used by general aviation operators today because of its proximity to the central city. The airport was named for prominent attorney and businessman Peter O. Knight, namesake of Holland & Knight.

The local fixed base operator (FBO) was recently sold by Tampa Flying Service and is now operated by Atlas Aviation.

Facilities and aircraft

Peter O. Knight Airport covers an area of 110 acres (45 ha) at an elevation of 8 feet (2 m) above mean sea level. It has two asphalt paved runways: 3/21 measuring 3,405 by 100 feet (1,038 x 30 m) and 17/35 measuring 2,688 x 75 feet (819 x 23 m).

For the 12-month period ending June 8, 1999, the airport had 66,000 aircraft operations, an average of 180 per day: 99% general aviation and 1% air taxi. At that time there were 102 aircraft based at this airport: 82% single-engine, 11% multi-engine, 2% jet and 5% helicopter.

Incidents

On February 20, 1975, professional wrestler Buddy Colt, while attempting to land in bad weather, crashed into Hillsborough Bay 300 feet short of the runway. Passenger Robert Shoenberger ("Bobby Shane") was killed. On June 12, 2006, a small aircraft attempting to make an emergency landing at the airport skidded off a runway [http://www.tbt.com/tampabay/news/article24312.ece tbt*, June 14, 2006] , through a retaining fence, and into the residence of a local business owner, causing complete destruction of the home. The pilot, Steve Huisman, was killed and the co-pilot, Sean Lauder, was hospitalized with serious injuries. Only one person was in the house at the time of impact, escaping without injury.

References

External links

* [http://www.tampaairport.com/about/general_aviation/tpf.asp Peter O. Knight Airport official site]
* [http://www.atlasaviationinc.com/ Atlas Aviation Inc official site]
* [http://www.dory-funk.com/badguy.html Buddy Colt Crash]
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