Background
At approximately 0612 Eastern Standard Time, the captain of an Eastern Air Lines flight, who was also the owner of a Piper PA-23 (registration N2185P), departed from a runway near his home in visual flight rules conditions to commute to work in Tampa, Florida.
Sequence of Events
Shortly after takeoff, the pilot contacted a Flight Service Station to update the weather information he had obtained the previous evening. At that time, the current weather at Tampa was reported as: indefinite ceiling, zero obscured, visibility 1/16 mile with fog, and runway visual range for Runway 36L between 1,000 and 1,600 feet.
Before N2185P arrived, two other flights had diverted from Tampa due to the weather being below minimums. During arrival, the pilot of N2185P made two instrument landing system approaches to land. During his first attempt, he executed a missed approach and elected to "go back and try it again." When cleared for the second ILS approach, the runway visual range was 600 feet in the touchdown area and 1,000 feet at midfield.
Collision
Subsequently, the PA-23 touched down on a parallel taxiway and collided with a Boeing 727 (registration N4743), which was being taxied for takeoff. The crew of the 727 did not see the Piper until it was approximately 500 feet away. The captain of the Boeing steered right but was unable to avoid a collision.
Weather Conditions
The decision height and minimum runway visual range for the approach were 200 feet and 1,800 feet, respectively, for Category A, B, and C aircraft.