Crash Claims Lives Of Father, Son

The Florida Everglades are an unforgiving environment and unfortunately, a father and son flight crew found their fate in this harsh environment on Saturday.

Saul Zadik, 45, and his son, Timor, 16. departed the Marathon Airport in the Florida Keys in their Raytheon King Air (file photo, right) after spending a few hours in the island getaway. Tragically, the aircraft plunged nose-down into the sawgrass of the Everglades National Park a few minutes later, killing the father and son instantly.

The elder Zadik had called his wife, Caryn, on the cell phone about 4 p.m., a few minutes before boarding his Beechcraft King Air C90 plane, to say they would be home in about an hour or so, said Tuly Wultz, a neighbor and close friend of Zadik's who spoke for the family on Sunday.

Wultz said Zadik had asked him to go along on the Marathon trip, but the Wultzes were busy planning an event. So Zadik took his oldest son, an honors student in the 11th grade at North Broward Preparatory Schools in Coconut Creek (FL).

The Monroe County Sheriff's Office said the plane went down about 4:20 p.m. north of Flamingo, a few miles inland from Florida Bay. It crashed into a dense area of mangrove trees that thwarted rescue teams in the rainy weather on Saturday. Helicopters brought rescue divers back to the site on Sunday to begin studying the debris, which was scattered over one-quarter of a mile.

Representatives of the NTSB were on site to begin their investigation and filed this initial report.

**  Report created 2/2/2004  ** 

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 75GC        Make/Model: BE9L      Description: 90, A90 TO E90 KING AIR (T-44, VC-6)
  Date: 01/31/2004     Time: 2135
  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Destroyed
LOCATION
  City: MARATHON                    State: FL   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
ACFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES, TWO PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, AIRCRAFT WAS DESTROYED, MARATHON, FL

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   2
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
WEATHER: HST2135Z 07010KT 2SM SHRA BR SCT005 OVC012 20/20 A2989                     
OTHER DATA
  Activity: Business      Phase: Unknown      Operation: General Aviation
  Departed: MARATHON, FL                Dep Date:    Dep. Time: 2124
  Destination: FORT LAUDERDALE, FL      Flt Plan: IFR          Wx Briefing: U
  Last Radio Cont: 2132/32NM SW TMB
  Last Clearance: HDG 030 DSCND TO 2000
  FAA FSDO: MIAMI, FL  (SO19)     Entry date: 02/02/2004

FMI:  www.faa.gov