Engine fire likely caused fatal Clearwater plane crash, feds say

An in-flight engine fire caused a 2024 crash that killed the pilot and two people inside a Clearwater mobile home , and the emergency was exacerbated by the pilot’s inability to find the Clearwater airport where he was trying to land, according to a federal investigation report released Tuesday.The findings are outlined in the National Transportation Safety Board report released 27 months after the crash on Feb. 1, 2024. Jemin G. Patel, 54, was trying to land his Beechcraft Bonanza V35B at the Clearwater Airpark, which is now called the Clearwater Executive Airport, that evening when the plane went down in the Bayside Waters mobile home park.The plane crashed into a home at 2647 Pagoda Drive and sparked a fire that consumed the plane and nearly all of the home. Patel and two women in the home, Martha Parry , 86, and Mary Ellen Pender , 55, all died at the scene.The “probable cause” of the crash was “an in-flight engine compartment fire due to a partially loose flexible fuel hose b-nut at the fuel metering unit,” the report states. “Based on the severity of the observed thermal damage in the area of the throttle body and metering valve, the most likely fire scenario for the accident airplane was an in-flight fire occurring due to ignition of fuel leaking from the slightly loose fuel hose at the outlet of the fuel metering valve,” the report states.The report cites the cause of that loose hose as “incorrect service/maintenance,” concluding that it’s likely that “unknown maintenance personnel failed to adequately torque the fuel hose b-nut at the metering valve outlet fitting.”“Contributing to the severity of the accident was the pilot’s inability to visually identify the destination airport at night, which prolonged the in-flight emergency,” the report states.The investigation found that it is likely that Patel “did not promptly turn off the fuel selector in accordance with the ‘Engine Fire in Flight’ checklist after recognizing and reporting a fire,” according to the report. “Thus, had the pilot promptly secured the fuel selector valve and in conjunction with the steep descent, it is possible that the extent of the in-flight fire could have been mitigated,” the report states. “Further, had the pilot been able to visually locate the destination airport, it is likely that he could have landed the airplane earlier in the accident sequence.”The report concluded that the steep descent immediately before impact was “the pilot’s likely response to the in-flight engine compartment fire and his initiation of an emergency descent.”The crash highlighted how the Clearwater Executive Airport is unusually dark and difficult to find at night. Like many general aviation airports, its runway lights are off until approaching pilots activate them by tapping the button they use to talk on the radio frequency.But as the Tampa Bay Times reported after the crash, the Clearwater is unlike most other public general aviation airports in that it did not at the time of the crash have a rotating beacon, a common feature that serves as a kind of lighthouse for planes at night. Fixed atop a tower, it can help pilots detect a runway from as far as 20 miles out. Several local pilots told the Times that the Clearwater airport is hard to find in a sea of city lights. One said the best way to find it is to “to look for the black hole.”Clearwater officials discussed installing a beacon as early as 2017, according to video of city meetings. Four years before Patel’s crash, a consultant recommended installing one before the end of 2020. In February 2025, the Clearwater City Council voted unanimously to approve a grant agreement with the Florida Department of Transportation and FlyUSA, which operates the airport, to fund the construction of a rotating beacon.The beacon has been installed and is expected to be operational in about two weeks after electrical work is completed, city spokesperson Joelle Castelli said Tuesday. The lack of a beacon is noted in the safety board’s final report along with the fact that Patel, of Brevard County, was not familiar with the airport.Patel announced that he was unable to locate the airport and “asked repeatedly for the pilot-controlled runway lights to be turned on,” the report states. Witnesses at the airport and who heard Patel’s request told investigators the runway lights were already on medium intensity from an airplane that had just landed. One of the witnesses responded to the pilot’s request by keying the radio microphone seven times to turn the lights up to high intensity.The witnesses and pilots in a nearby airplane reported that they subsequently heard Patel announce that he had a fire. One witness at the airport asked the pilot to repeat what he said, but the pilot did not, according to the report.About two minutes before the crash, Patel was flying at an altitude of about 900 feet and set his transponder to an emergency code. He proceeded briefly east, then southeast.About one minute before the crash, Patel reestablished contact with an air traffic controller and said he was proceeding to a different airport, Albert Whitted in downtown St. Petersburg, because he was unable to find the Clearwater Airpark. The controller advised Patel that he was 1 mile south of Clearwater Airpark and asked if he could turn around and maintain his present altitude.At 7:06 p.m., Patel told the controller, “I’m losing engine.” The controller asked Patel if he could see St. Pete-Clearwater International Airport, which was 3 miles ahead of his position at that point, and told him that there were runaways available for him there. Patel did not respond, and there were no further transmissions from him. He crashed seconds later.Pender’s widower, Robert Dixon, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Patel’s estate in August 2024. The suit is still pending, records show.An attorney listed in court documents as the representative for Patel’s estate did not immediately return a voicemail and email message Tuesday. This is a breaking news story. Stay with tampabay.com for updates. Times staff writer Colbi Edmonds contributed.