Kreindler Monitoring Vans RV-12iS Aircraft Crash That Killed Tyler Perry Studios Executive near Tampa, Florida

December 9, 2024

What Happened

On Friday evening, December 6, 2024, a Vans RV-12iS private aircraft crashed 60 miles north of Tampa in Homosassa, Florida, killing the only occupant on board. The airplane came to a rest upside down near the intersection of W. White Dogwood Drive and U.S. Hwy 19/98 in Homosassa. The president and general manager of Atlanta’s Tyler Perry Studios, Steve Mensch, was killed in the airplane crash. According to a Fox 5-Atlanta news report, the studio executive was the sole occupant and was piloting the Vans aircraft when it crashed off Florida’s Gulf Coast. New York Times reports that prior to his 8 years at Tyler Perry Studios, Mensch worked with Third Rail Studios in Atlanta, as well as Turner Broadcasting. 

The Vans RV-12iS plane, registry number N702DP, was a fixed-wing aircraft with a four-cycle Rotax single-engine, manufactured in 2023. Stephen Mensch was listed as the registered owner with a Fayetteville, Georgia, address on the FAA registry website.

Kreindler Experience with Van’s Aircraft

Kreindler attorneys have handled several fatal aviation accident cases involving Van’s airplanes, including the 2020 crash of a Van’s RV-9A aircraft that also crashed in Florida.

In the Media

Preliminary Investigation

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are investigating the crash. Based on information on the Flight Aware website, the aircraft departed on Friday, December 6th at 5:53pm from George T. Lewis Airport (CDK) in Cedar Key, Florida.