[jadeddjay]

http://www.local6.com/news/15144329/detail.html

ANTHONY, Fla. -- Five people were killed early Saturday when a BMW they were riding in flew off an elevated runway at an airstrip and was split into several pieces, according to police. Images: Crash Scene Florida Highway officers said a gray 2008 BMW was traveling on an airstrip after 3:30 a.m. Saturday near Jumbolair Aviation Estates when it sailed off the 80- to 85-foot elevated runway.

FHP Lt. Mike Burroughs told the Ocala Star-Banner that the vehicle traveled 200 feet and hit a large tree about 15 feet above the ground.

Three of the passengers were ejected from the vehicle upon impact.

Authorities told the Ocala Star-Banner that Jacob James Casey, 19, and James Devon Hime, 19 were killed in the crash. The other three victims, all men, were not identified.

Neighbors in the 1400 block of Northeast 95th Street said that they were awakened by a bang that shook their house.

FHP officials investigating the crash said there were skid marks at the end of the runway.

[Alias]

sad

hopefully no one from here

[Rusty's508whp]

OMG!!!

[Revlis]

Bummer...

But I guess if you are going to go out...


Go out with a BANG.


It pisses me off though when some dipshit out screwing around kills four other people... Sucks.

[Majikthese42]

Originally Posted by AP

5 dead after racing crash on Florida runway

11:05 AM CST on Saturday, January 26, 2008

Associated Press

OCALA, Fla. – Five young men are dead after apparently speeding on an airplane runway at the exclusive "fly-in" community of Jumbolair Aviation Estates, now most famously the home of John Travolta, officials said.

The crash happened Saturday at about 3:45 a.m. According to a preliminary Florida Highway Patrol investigation, a 2008 gray BMW with 5 occupants, ages 18 to 20, was traveling at a high rate of speed on the airstrip.

As it neared the end of the runway, the car traveled off the end of an 85-foot high embankment, became airborne for 200 feet and struck a large tree.

At impact, the vehicle split in half and the car's engine separated from the vehicle, scattering pieces of the car over about a 200 square foot area. Three of the five occupants were ejected from the vehicle and all were pronounced dead at the scene, according to Florida Highway Patorl spokesman Lt. Mike Burroughs said.

"It's too early in the investigation to determine a speed and also to determine whether seat belts were in use at the time of the crash," Burroughs said.

Two of the five men were from Ocala, two were from Fairfield and one was from Anthony, but it was not clear if any of the men lived within the gated community. Officials were in the process of notifying next of kin.

Investigators did not know at this time whether the vehicle was speeding or racing another car.

Originally Posted by More

Updated at 1:15 p.m.) ANTHONY -- Five young men were killed early Saturday in a vehicle accident on the Greystone airstrip adjacent to Jumbolair Aviation Estates.

By 12:30 p.m., Officials had identified all five victims, all from Marion County, but they only released the names of four of them pending notification of the other victim's family. Jacob James Casey, 19, James Devon Hime, 19, Joshua D. Ammirato, 18, and Dustin J. Dawe, 19, were all pronounced dead at the scene.

The victims were riding in a gray 2008 BMW, which was traveling north on the airstrip when it sailed off the end of the runway, traveled about 200 feet and slammed into a large tree in a wooded area, according to Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Burroughs, who as on scene.

FHP officials said there were skid marks at the end of the runway. They believe the car flew off the 80- to 85-foot elevation at the end of the airstrip and struck the tree about 15 feet above the ground.

The car broke into two pieces upon impact. Three of victims were ejected. All five died at the scene.

Alainya Frauenshuh, a senior at North Marion High School, was friends with the young men and said they had all gone to a Trinty High School basketball game and then to a party. They were celebrating Dustin Dawe's 19th birthday. Dustin was known by all of his friends as "Smiley."

"It's heartbreaking," Frauenshuh said. "I'm praying for their families."

North Marion High School principal Kathy Quelland knew three of the young
men in the car who were all graduates of NMHS.

"They were all wrestlers and involved in others sports and very popular
students, so this is going to hit the North Marion community really hard,"
Quelland said.

The Rev. Patrick Sheedy of Blessed Trinity Catholic Church said he has not had a
chance to talk to the family of Jacob James Casey, a 2007 graduate of Trinity
Catholic High School.

Casey played football for Trinity Catholic and then went on to play defensive back for the Jacksonville University Dolphins, coached by former Trinity High School football coach Kerwin Bell.

"I have left a message for the (Casey) family, and I'm waiting on them to call
me back," Sheedy said.

The vehicle came to rest in flames near the home of Augustine and Kristina Berenguer in the 1400 block of Northeast 95th Street. The BMW was completely demolished in the crash.

The Berenguers were awakened by a bang and saw flames through a window. They said the nearby crash shook their house.

Augustine Berenguer went outside to see what had happened and shouted back for his wife to call 911.

The accident was reported to Marion County Fire Rescue at 3:47 a.m.

Residents in the area told troopers that local teens regularly sneak onto the airstrip via an entrance in a nearby, ungated subdivision.

The airstrip where the accident occurred is used by actor John Travolta, who has a home at Jumbolair.

Jeremy Thayer, co-owner of Jumbolair Aviation Estates, said he and
wife Terri Jones-Thayer were called just before 8 a.m. Saturday and told
about the accident.

"We are shocked and sad for the five families," Thayer said. "It's
just tragic. I have three children of my own, and I can't imagine living
without one of them."

He said they did not hear anything unusual on the airstrip overnight.

"We are used to noise on the runway at night with planes landing," he
said. "And we have had teens out there we have had to chase off, but it's
so large it's impossible to stop them all. It's a mile and a half runway, so
if someone wanted to get out there they can."

The accident brought the number of traffic-related deaths in Marion County this month to eight. Three fatal crashes have occurred in the past week.

[shragon]

wow, that's pretty crazy!

[bavarian19]

What were they doing on a runway???


sad...

[Mark]

Thats horrible news That better not be anyone on the forums

[noro]

Darwin's theory at work, what can I say.

I mostly feel bad for the buy in the car telling the driver to slow the f... down, if of course that person existed in the car.

[jadeddjay]

i am gonna guess they wanted to see how fast the car was going and misjudged the distance needed for the brakes to stop the car.

everyone knows a 2008 bmw will easily hit 155, so i hope they werent doing this because of a possible delimit...

[Potty_Pants]

bet it was a 335i.

[horsedjump]

Probably racing...that 19 yo kid took 4 others down with him....just horrible.

[Daya]

I know it is not verified whether or not they were racing, but I think it is sad that no matter how many tragic stories we hear (racing or not) people will continue to illegally street race and put their lives and the lives of innocent people at risk.

Sounds like all of the victims had bright futures ahead of them - RIP

Seriously, why do people street race?

[Digital.James]

I remember watching some episode of Top Gear where they were testing the Koenesieg (?) and they mentioned that when driving down a runway, it's so wide it causes your mind to play tricks on you and you can't judge where the end is or something like that. Wonder if that played a cause.

[Noah1]

Originally Posted by Potty_Pants

bet it was a 335i.

It looks like it was 08 M5...(click link) car is unrecognizable except for the exhaust and style 166M wheels. -Noah

[BB987]

These kids got some stupid rich parents..thats all i gotta say..

[LEDZEP]

+1 for the human gene pool.

[Richwm]

Very sad story.

[jadeddjay]

atleast they didnt do this in the streets

[Richwm]

From the local forums.

Terrible tragedy, but this was a birthday party with 4 kegs, MANY underage kids and irresponsible adults, a brand new $120,000 car for a 19 year old...enough said!

http://forums.ocala.com/eve/forums/a...7211086986/p/3

[e92phreak]

This is just horrible...

[Biostockman]

What a waste...