Tampa Plane Crash Kills Prominent Spine Physician, Nurse Practitioner

A nurse practitioner and a well-known Tampa physician who founded a children’s scoliosis center were killed when the small plane they were in crashed near the Tampa Executive Airport Thursday, local news sites reported.

David Siambanes, 59, had specialized in treating spinal disorders in children and was known for his research into heavy backpacks’ impact on kids’ spines. He was a licensed pilot, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

Dawn Stone, 53, was a nurse practitioner with AdventHealth who specialized in bone health.

Both were killed when the plane, a Lancair Evolution kit plane that was registered to a Siambanes company, went down in a wooded area just after takeoff, the Times and WUSF reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the crash. The flight was en route to North Carolina, the Times reported.

Court records show Siambanes had faced four medical malpractice lawsuits in the last decade. Details were not made available by the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court.