April Hunt | Sentinel Staff Writer
11:42 AM EDT, July 10, 2007
The husband of NASCAR official Lesa France Kennedy was one of two people tied to NASCAR killed this morning when a small plane struggling to land at Orlando-Sanford International Airport crashed into a home and burst into flames.
Three family members in that Sanford home suffered critical burns in the fireball after the crash that killed Dr. Bruce Kennedy and a passenger. A 4-year-old girl who was also in the home is listed as missing.
The Daytona Beach News-Journal is reporting that Dr. Bruce Kennedy was the pilot of the twin-engine Cessna 310 that took off at 8:23 a..m. from Daytona Beach International Airport with one passenger on board.
Kennedy, a plastic surgeon, is married to France Kennedy, who is president of International Speedway Corp., and also vice president and assistant treasurer of NASCAR. The co-pilot was not identified, though NASCAR officials told the Orlando Sentinel that there was no driver on board.
The plane was bound for Lakeland when Kennedy declared an emergency with smoke in the cockpit just after 8:30 a.m., said Federal Aviation Authority spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen.
"They were directing it to Sanford (International Airport) when a mile to two miles north-northwest of the airport, it crashed into a house," Bergen said.
Four people were in the home at the time, including two adults, a 10-year-old boy and the 4-year-old girl.
A firefighter who lived in the neighborhood rushed into the house and pulled the father and boy from the flames.
Ryan Cooper, a firefighter/paramedic with Lake Mary Fire Department, has his bunker gear at home and put it on to run in to the burning house. Without his breathing apparatus, he was unable to go deep into the smoke-filled house to see if he could find the younger girl.
Instead, he ran into the second home that was aflame but did not find anyone inside. Cooper, who is married with two kids, rushed back outside and began treating the 10-year-old boy for his burns.
The boy, his father and another adult were taken by helicopter to Orlando Regional Medical Center with critical burns. The 4-year-old has not yet been found.
The boy appears to be the most seriously injured, with 3rd-degree burns over 80 pecent to 90 percent of his body, said Matt Matt Minnetto, a Sanford Fire Investigator at the scene.
"(He's) a pretty tough kid," Minnetto said of the boy, who gave firefighters a thumbs up as he was taken away in the ambulance.
Cooper suffered heat exhaustion from the rescue effort. He and another person suffering from chest pains were taken to Central Florida Regional Hospital, where both were in stable condition:
A teen-age neighbor appears to have seen the injured family shortly after the crash.
Melinda Arroyo said her sister woke her up shortly before 9 a.m., saying that a woman was outside screaming. As the 15-year-old ran outside, she said she heard popping noises and explosions, then heard a woman screaming for help.
"She was yelling, 'My baby! My baby is upstairs,'" Arroyo said.
A man wearing only underwear and blackened by fire was walking nearby in a daze, also looking for help for his family. A young boy sat in front of the home, his legs and arms also apparently burned.
By 10 a.m., firefighters had put out the fires at 354 and 356 Willowbay Ridge Street, in the relatively new subdivision near the Central Florida Zoo. Investigators are now trying to determine what led to the crash that left the plane in several pieces throughout the neighborhood.
Neighbors reported hearing a wooshing sound and the crash explosion as they were readying for their days.
"I've never seen so many flames, never in all my life," said Marcela Rodriguez, who was eating breakfast at a friend's home when the plane crashed two houses away.
Rodriguez said she ran out and was unable to see anyone because of the heat and flames. Heather Stahley, who also lives in the neighborhood, said she was upstairs with her two children when she heard the "boom, boom, boom" of the crash.
"Then I saw the two homes engulfed in flames and black smoke," she said. "I just couldn't believe it was happening."
Christian Schwarz said he and his wife were eating breakfast when they heard the first boom and thought it was just a garbage truck. Moments later his young son, who played with the boy in the house that was hit, ran in and said the neighbor's house was on fire.
"It was a huge fire ball," he said. "It pretty much gutted those houses."
Despite the plane's relatively small size, smoke from the crash could be seen as far away as Interstate 4.
The 310 is a common twin-engine plane that has been in use since after World War II. It is often used as an air taxi and for private use. It seats six people, including the pilot.
Bergen said the plane is registered to Competition Liaison Bureau Inc. of Daytona Beach. The company is registered as CL Bureau Inc. with the state's division of corporations. Lesa France Kennedy is listed as the firm's vice president.
Sarah Langbein, Sandra Pedicini, Robert Perez and Walter Pacheco contributed to this report.
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