Investigation Underway After South Florida-Based Airplane Crashes In Ohio
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) – Federal aviation investigators are trying to determine why a South Florida based airplane crashed in Ohio Tuesday afternoon, killing all people on board.
The owner of the plane, Danny Lewkowicz, told CBS4 News that there were nine people on the plane, including the captain and co-pilot, who are based in South Florida.
"We are very hurt," said Lewkowicz. "I want to know what happened just like everyone wants to know what happened."
The plane was heading from Dayton, Ohio to Akron and was approaching Akron's airport around 3 p.m. Tuesday.
Investigators said it clipped a telephone wire, crashed into a small apartment building and set that building and a home on fire.
"All of a sudden this plane just dropped out of the sky," said witness Rebecca Porter. "It was an instant boom and flames and smoke. It was horrific. It was terrible."
No word from investigators on what led to the crash and investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are headed to the scene to try and figure out what caused the plane to go down.
One man said his loved one lives in the apartment building that burned up and fortunately weren't home at the time.
"He just left his apartment to buy groceries by the grace of God," the man said. "He wasn't there."
The owner of the plane, Lewkowicz, told CBS4 the plane is in excellent shape and that the captain and co-pilot had a lot of experience flying the plane.
The coroner said she will wait for specialists before removing the victims from the aircraft and that may not happen until Wednesday.
For people who witnessed the crash, it was gut wrenching.
"I just knew that people were not walking away from it," Porter said.
The owner of the plane said he plans to head to Ohio tomorrow to help the NTSB in its' investigation in any way possible.
