Weekend Downing Claims Five

Heavy rains and thunderstorms in the area may have contributed to a fatal crash near Fort Lauderdale, FL last weekend, federal officials said Monday.

The pilot, Glen Quackenbush, was at the controls of the 1965 Piper Aztec on Saturday morning. FAA records indicate he was flying in extremely poor weather, without an instrument rating.

The National Weather Service in Miami confirmed there were heavy showers off the coast of Fort Lauderdale that morning, from Boca Raton to Hollywood.

"In fact, the heaviest showers were actually in the area near the accident, about 25 miles east of the Fort Lauderdale airport," meteorologist Robert Molleda told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. The plane went down about halfway between FLL and the Bahamas.

Molleda said the clouds towered up to 15,000 feet. Authorities at the airport believe that with five people onboard, the Aztec may not have been able to climb fast enough to get over the clouds.

Quackenbush, 35, earned his private pilot's license about a year ago, his family said.

All five people aboard the plane died in the crash. In addition to Quackenbush, also killed were Troy Taylor, 41, of Pembroke Pines; Michael Levofsky, 27, of Margate; Mark Santa, 22, of Pembroke Pines; and Michael Gross, 22, of Miami.

The FAA and NTSB continue to investigate.

IDENTIFICATION
  Regis#: 4TR        Make/Model: PA23      Description: PA-23-150/160 Apache
  Date: 04/21/2007     Time: 0585

  Event Type: Accident   Highest Injury: Fatal     Mid Air: N    Missing: N
  Damage: Unknown

LOCATION
  City: FORT LAUDERDALE   State: FL   Country: US

DESCRIPTION
  AIRCRAFT CRASHED UNDER UNKNOWN CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE OCEAN, SUBJECT OF AN
  ALERT NOTICE, THE FIVE PERSONS ON BOARD WERE FATALLY INJURED, 22 MILES SE
  OF FORT LAUDERDALE, FL

INJURY DATA      Total Fatal:   5
                 # Crew:   1     Fat:   1     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Pass:   4     Fat:   4     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   
                 # Grnd:         Fat:   0     Ser:   0     Min:   0     Unk:   

WEATHER: NOT REPORTED

OTHER DATA
  Activity: Unknown      Phase: Unknown      Operation: OTHER

  Departed:                             Dep Date:    Dep. Time:     
  Destination:                          Flt Plan:              Wx Briefing: 
  Last Radio Cont: 
  Last Clearance: 

  FAA FSDO: SOUTH FLORIDA, FL  (SO19)             Entry date: 04/23/2007

FMI: www.faa.gov, www.ntsb.gov