Pilot Declared Emergency, Reported Smoke In Cockpit

ANN REALTIME UPDATE 07.10.07 1415 EDT: Reports now indicate as many as five people have died following this morning's crash of a twin engine Cessna 310R into a Sandford, FL neighborhood.

"We have confirmed five victims," a fire investigator told Reuters.

Two of the victims -- Dr. Bill Kennedy, the husband of NASCAR official Lesa France Kennedy; and Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation -- were onboard the aircraft. The other three, two adults and a small child, were in two houses the aircraft impacted.

A third home was also reported damaged, and three more victims were taken to area hospitals with severe burns.

The National Transportation Safety Board is sending an eight-member investigation team to the accident site, according to an NTSB release to ANN.

The aircraft -- identified via FAA records as N501N, registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau Inc. -- departed Daytona Beach International (DAB) Tuesday morning en route to Lakeland-Linder Regional Airport (LAL.) Minutes after takeoff, the C310's pilot reported smoke in the cockpit, and declared an emergency.

Air traffic controllers were directing the stricken aircraft to Orlando-Sanford International (SFB) when it crashed at around 8:35 am EDT, approximately four miles from the airport. Investigators on the scene report it appears the pilot tried to land in a nearby field, but struck the homes instead.

Original Reports

1145 EDT: The husband of a NASCAR official was one of two people killed this morning, when a Cessna 310 on approach to make an emergency landing at Orlando-Sanford International Airport impacted a neighborhood.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal reports Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of NASCAR's Lesa France Kennedy, was flying the twin-engine Cessna. A passenger onboard the plane, also affiliated with NASCAR but as-yet unidentified, was also killed in the crash.

Three people inside the home the plane struck suffered critical burns in the crash, reports the Orlando Sentinel. A toddler inside the home has not yet been accounted for.

The accident aircraft was registered to Competition Liaison Bureau Inc. of Daytona Beach, according to local media reports. FAA records show a Cessna 310R registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau.

France Kennedy is president of International Speedway Corp., and also vice president and assistant treasurer of NASCAR, according to the Sentinel.

1010 EDT: A small twin engine plane came down in an Orlando neighborhood Tuesday morning, near the Orlando-Sanford International Airport. At least four people are reported injured, and two homes caught fire due to the crash.

Officials told local media the aircraft -- identified as a Cessna 310 (type shown below), en route from Daytona Beach to Lakeland -- impacted a neighborhood at the Preserve at Lake Monroe, near the Central Florida Regional Hospital. The accident site is approximately four miles from SFB.

Two persons were taken to the hospital with burns. It is not known if they were onboard the plane, or on the ground.

FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen told The Orlando Sentinel the plane's pilot declared an emergency, possibly smoke in the cockpit, before the accident.

"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.

ANN will have more details as they become available.

FMI: www.faa.gov