The calls flooded in on March 1: A small yellow plane had gone down in the Laurel Oak neighborhood. Emergency crews and state aviation officials rushed to the scene.
John "Buddy" Toole, who had just landed his vintage plane, wondered what all the commotion was about.
"There were fire trucks and FDOT at my property asking me what happened," he recalled. "I told them I was just taking my plane out, like I'd been doing since November. Nobody ever told me that I couldn't do that."
Toole had been flying his plane several times a week, using an equestrian racetrack on his 15-acre property at 11250 SW 45th St.