Jeffrey Bronken, identified as pilot killed in Florida plane crash, Katherine Bronken,Keyano Linbo in hospital
A pilot was killed and his daughter and another teenage girl were seriously injured early Saturday when a small plane crashed on a major highway in Pinellas County, Florida, police said.
Jeffrey Bronken, from the Round Lake Chicago area, has now been identified as the pilot killed in the crash. His daughter Katherine and her friend, Keyano Linbo, both age 15, were taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Tampa in serious condition.
The single-engine Piper crashed nose-first in the median of the six-lane road around 4 a.m. Saturday, authorities said. Jeffrey Bronken, age 53, died at the scene.
The plane clipped a roadside power line on its way down, knocking out electricity to about 450 nearby residents. Firefighters extinguished some small fires from debris on the road, authorities said.
New reports state that Bronken reported some kind of fuel issue to air traffic control before the plane went down.
“This happened at 4 a.m., so luckily, no one was on the road at that time in this vicinity,” said Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. David DiSano.
A witness said he heard a “big boom,” looked outside and saw a big flash of light.
Bronken and the two girls were headed to Florida for a spring break trip and planned to spend a couple of days there.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.