Seven associates of a Florida real estate investment company were on the second day of a multicity Midwestern trip to look at property for potential shopping centers when their small jet crashed into an Ohio apartment house, killing all nine people on board.
The Tuesday afternoon crash in Akron, two miles from the small airport where the plane was to land, killed two executives and five employees at Pebb Enterprises, a Boca Raton-based company that specializes in shopping centers. The two pilots were also killed.
"Our hearts are broken this morning with the news of the tragic accident that took the lives of two principals and five employees of Pebb Enterprises," said a statement on the company website Wednesday. "We are shocked and deeply saddened for the families, colleagues and friends of those who perished."
Officials haven't released names of the victims, but family members at the crash scene said the dead included 50-year-old Diane Smoot, who was with the group from Pebb Enterprises, her sister told reporters.
"I got confirmation from an Ohio State Trooper that it was indeed my sister on that plane," Beth Blakeslee said. "You never think something like this is going to happen to your family."
One of the pilots on board was 39-year-old Oscar Andres Chavez, a man who lived in North Bay Village and worked for Execu-Flight out of Fort Lauderdale.
"So loving and caring, and such a good person, always joyful. We're gonna suffer a big loss," said Maria Garcia, Chavez's neighbor.
NBC 6 has also learned Pebb Enterprise employees Thomas Virgin and Jared Weiner were on board.
The chartered plane left Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on Monday and stopped in St. Paul, Minnesota; Moline, Illinois; and St. Louis before arriving in Cincinnati, according to the flight-tracking website FlightAware.
The plane departed from Cincinnati on Tuesday morning and stopped in Dayton before crashing on its approach to Akron Fulton International just before 3 p.m.
The 10-seat Hawker H25 business jet clipped utility wires and crashed into a four-unit apartment building, sparking a fire that destroyed the building, Ohio State Highway Patrol Lt. Bill Haymaker said. Nobody was home at any of the apartments, and there were no other injuries.
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A man who lived in the unit that plane crashed into said he wasn't home because he'd gone to the store to buy Hot Pockets, a brand of microwavable turnovers.
Jason Bartley told the Akron Beacon Journal that he feels lucky but also in shock over the crash. The 38-year-old factory worker said he was coming home when he saw the flames.
Investigators are trying to determine what caused the crash, which shook furniture in homes several blocks away and left behind fiery debris.
It could take days to recover and identify the victims, said Lt. Bill Haymaker with the Ohio State Highway Patrol.
"It's going to be extensive," he said.
The Summit County coroner on Wednesday sought the expertise of a forensics team from Mercyhurst University in Erie, Pennsylvania, to help local officials at the site of the crash. The team specializes in crime scene and airplane crash recoveries of human remains.
Witnesses, including Carrie Willis, who live several blocks away, said they heard explosions when the plane hit.
"I heard a big bang, and my couch shook twice," Willis said.
Roberta Porter, who lives about a block from the site, said she was driving home when she saw the plane crash and burst into flames.
"This plane just dropped out of the sky, veered and crashed into the apartment building," Porter said. She said it's scary to think that if she had been driving faster the plane might have clipped her car.
According to the NTSB, the Hawker jet owns one of aviation's best safety records. There have only been four crashes with this type of plane in 30 years.
