Family Killed When Plane Crashed Into Gulf Seconds After Takeoff: NTSB

VENICE, FL — A small plane was only in the air for 16 seconds after takeoff before plunging into the Gulf of Mexico and killing the family of three onboard, according to a preliminary investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board.

The federal report didn’t include the cause of the crash.

The plane — a rented Piper PA-28-151 Cherokee — departed from the St. Petersburg-Clearwater Airport the afternoon of Dec. 3, 2022, flying to the Venice Municipal Airport. It took off for its return flight to St. Pete-Clearwater at 7:37 p.m. and plunged into the water within seconds, the NTSB said.

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“Airport surveillance video from the time of the accident depicted an airplane departing runway 23 with little to no angle of climb into a dark sky over dark water with no discernable horizon,” the report reads.

The pilot, Christian Kath, 42, and his wife, Misty Kath, 43, and their daughter, Lily, 12, were killed in the crash. They reportedly made the trip to Venice for dinner.

During the search-and-rescue effort that followed, only the bodies of Misty and Lily were recovered.

As the family embarked on their return flight, the plane took off about 900 feet from the 5,000-foot-long runway’s edge, the agency said in its report.

At the time of the crash, Christian was operating the plane “under visual flight rules,” NTSB said.

He earned his private pilot certificate on July 31 and accrued 13.5 hours of flight experience since then, the report said.

On his Facebook page, Christian posted in March about earning his pilot’s license and flying solo for the first time. He wrote that he started his lessons in late December and was halfway through obtaining his license at the time of his post.

“Feel lucky to live and be learning to fly in such a beautiful part of the world,” he wrote.

The family is originally from Australia, where they lived before moving to St. Petersburg, Venice police said around the time of the plane crash.