Plane skids off runway at St. Pete’s Albert Whitted Airport; no injuries reported

ST. PETERSBURG — An experimental single-engine plane skidded off Runway 7 while attempting to take off from Albert Whitted Airport on Tuesday, authorities said.

There were three people aboard the four-seater Velocity 173RG, said St. Petersburg Fire Rescue Lt. Steve Lawrence. None were injured in the incident.

Officials first reported that the plane had flipped over. But it actually skidded off the runway and ended up on a grassy embankment at the end of Runway 7, said Albert Whitted manager Richard Lesniak.

The incident was reported at about 3:00 p.m. No fuel was spilled and the airport will salvage the aircraft, Lawrence said.

The plane took off from Orlando Executive Airport at 12:40 p.m. and landed at Albert Whitted at 1:28 p.m., according to flightradar24.com. It was scheduled to depart Albert Whitted at 3:03 p.m.

The plane was built in 1997, according to records. Officials did not say what caused the crash or release any other details about the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board will investigate what happened, Lawrence said.