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Tampa business owner killed in plane crash in the Philippines

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Published  February 18, 2025 5:56pm EST
Tampa
FOX 13 News

Pictured: A memorial at Pup's Pub for Trevor Tackett.

The Brief

    • A Tampa business owner died in a plane crash in the Philippines earlier this month.
    • All four passengers who were on board the plane, which was contracted by the U.S. military, were killed.
    • The man from Tampa co-founded the Pup's Pub, a Tampa dog bar with multiple locations.

TAMPA, Fla. - A Tampa business owner who served our country died when his plane – which was contracted by the U.S. military – crashed in the Philippines earlier this month. 

All four passengers on board, including Trevor Tackett, were killed. Tackett was 32-years-old. 

Who was ‘Hurricane Trevor'? 

The backstory:

He co-founded Pups Pub, a Tampa dog bar with multiple locations, with Alex Wright and Sheila Suhar. Wright said close friends knew Tackett as "Hurricane Trevor." 

Pictured: Trevor Tackett. 

"When Hurricane Trevor was in town, the bar did better, significantly better," Wright told FOX 13. "We always had better sales the weeks and months that he was here versus when he wasn't."

What they're saying:

Wright met Tackett in the Air Force when they were intelligence analysts. 

"He's a big personality," Wright said. "He sucked people in, and, you know, he was the best kind of hurricane."

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Dig deeper:

Wright told FOX 13 Tackett was working "intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance" missions as a government contractor. According to the Associated Press, that’s what Tackett was doing on the aircraft in the Philippines on Feb. 6. Residents there reportedly saw smoke coming from the aircraft and then heard an explosion before it crashed. There were no survivors. 

"He absolutely should be remembered," Wright said. "And he paid the ultimate sacrifice."

Celebration of Life

What's next:

On Tuesday, a memorial continued to grow at the Tampa location of Pups Pub. This Saturday, Tackett’s friends and family will come together to celebrate his life at the Tampa bar. 

"Everyone's going to be here, and they're going to pay their respects," Wright said. "I want them to celebrate his life, because that's what he'd want."

The celebration of life starts at 6 p.m. at Pups Pub in Tampa on Saturday. The bar is also raising money for Tackett’s favorite cause – K9s for Warriors – in his honor.

The Source: The information in this story was gathered through interviews with Alex Wright, who co-founded Pups Pub with Trevor Tackett. The Associated Press also contributed to this report. 

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