A private jet owned by a controversial businessman recently caused significant damage at a Florida airport, just days before the owner was to face court proceedings related to a fatal boat accident.
Jeffry Knight’s personal aircraft, a Cessna Chancellor Twin Piston, encountered difficulties while landing at Tampa International Airport at approximately 8 p.m. on January 4. The plane collided with a sign while taxiing, resulting in the loss of its front landing gear.
Knight, a 62-year-old affluent entrepreneur with multiple business interests in St. Petersburg, was charged in July with eight felony counts. These charges stem from allegedly fleeing the scene of a boating accident that resulted in death and serious injury.
In April, Knight was accused of crashing into a crowded ferry, leading to the tragic death of 41-year-old Jose Castro, a father of two, and injuring 10 other individuals.
According to a report by the Tampa Bay Times, Knight was not aboard the flight returning from the Bahamas that Sunday.
The aircraft was piloted by David Straub Coover, a friend of Knight’s, with Knight’s children also on board as passengers.
No injuries were recorded according to a Federal Aviation Administration preliminary incident report cited by the outlet.
Knight was not happy with the crash that caused $4,500 worth of damage, said Coover to the Tampa Bay Times.
Jeffry Knight’s personal Cessna Chancellor Twin Piston plane crashed into a sign on Sunday in at the Tampa International Airport days before he scheduled to appear in court
![Knight who was not aboard the plane purchased it for $500,000. His friend David Straub Coover was piloting it at the time of the crash [stock image]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2026/01/07/16/105307217-15441829-image-a-3_1767802151716.jpg)
Knight who was not aboard the plane purchased it for $500,000. His friend David Straub Coover was piloting it at the time of the crash [stock image]
‘But he’s OK, no one got hurt,’ he added.
A water bottle jammed under the pedal of the landing gear caused the pilot to lose control, according to an airport police report.
However, Coover disputed the report, stating that the plane veered left before striking the sign because the brakes failed.
Knight was released on bail in July and is free to travel, with the exception of not being allowed to ‘operate any vessel,’ according to an unsealed bench warrant found by the outlet.
The businessman’s trial is expected to start in September, but he will appear in court on Monday for a pretrial hearing.
His fortune was made in the 1980s through cable installation and now owns Jannus Live, the Ringside Café, the Pelican Pub, MacDinton’s Irish Pub, and Detroit Liquors.
An airport police report said a water bottle jammed under the pedal of the landing gear caused the pilot to lose control
The flight path of Jeffry Knight’s personal Cessna Chancellor as it returned back from the Bahamas
He bought his private plane for $500,000 years ago, which was used eight times to fly to the Bahamas since he was released.
Knight who lives in a $5.2million waterfront mansion – was at the helm of the 37-foot triple-engine vessel when it hit the Clearwater Ferry on April 27.
There were 45 passengers aboard the 40-foot ferry during the ‘mass casualty’ horror as families were being shuttled on the final night of Clearwater’s popular Sugar Sand Festival.
Knight’s boat, carrying six passengers, left after the crash and was found more than three miles south by law enforcement, who guided it onto a ramp beside the Belleair Causeway and led him away.
Authorities say Knight has cooperated with them, and a breath test showed there was no trace of alcohol in his system. So far, he has not been charged with any offense.
However, the Daily Mail revealed Knight has a lengthy and largely minor rap sheet that includes two DUIs and being accused of ‘careless operation of a vessel’.
Knight allegedly crashed into a packed ferry in April, killing Jose Castro, a 41-year-old father of two little girls
Knight was charged in July with eight felony counts of leaving the scene of a boating accident involving death and/or serious bodily injury
He is also currently facing a damning civil court case where he is accused of seriously sexually assaulting one of his female staff at his showpiece Jannus Live concert venue in St. Petersburg.
Additionally, Knight was previously accused in a lawsuit of the 2012 death of a friend who slipped as he was leaving his yacht, named Pure Knight Life, and hit his head on the way down into the water.
