Young Maryland couple among five dead in fiery Florida plane crash

The sheriff in Bartow, Florida, said that no-one should have been trying to take off from the Bartow Municipal Airport in Bartow on Christmas Eve as the airport was totally socked in with fog.  But Florida lawyer, John Shannon, 70, of Lakeland, Florida, did attempt to take off around 7:00 a.m. that morning.  With him were his two daughters, his son-in-law and a family friend.  All five died in a fiery crash at the end of the runway immediately after take-off, according to WBAL-TV in Baltimore.

An employee at the airport reported hearing Shannon’s twin-engine Cessna 340 rev up during take-off.  And although that employee could hear the sound of the engines change and whine and ultimately heard the plane crash, the dense fog at the airport prevented him from actually seeing what happened.  Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd was quoted by the media as saying, “The crash is so horrific that no one suffered.” Judd added, “It breaks our heart. It’s certainly a tragedy when something occurs like this. It’s a tragedy of monumental proportions when it happens on Christmas Eve.”

ABC News quoted the sheriff as saying, “I have reviewed some footage, and clearly no one should have tried a takeoff from this airport at 7:15 this morning,” Judd said during a press conference this morning. “The airport was totally socked in with fog.”

Also dead in the crash along with Shannon were his two daughters, Victoria Shannon-Worthington, 26; Olivia Shannon, 24; Shannon-Worthington’s husband, Peter Worthington Jr., 27; and a family friend, Krista Clayton, 32, of Lakeland.  USA Today reported that Shannon was taking off that fateful Christmas Eve morning to make a short trip from Bartow to the Florida Keys.

Shannon’s 24-year-old daughter, Olivia, was a student attending Lakeland’s Southeastern University.  His elder daughter, Victoria, taught fourth grade at the Baltimore International Academy Elementary/Middle School in Baltimore.  Victoria’s husband Peter was a third-year law student at the University of Maryland Baltimore. Krista, the family friend that died in the crash was a teacher at the Jewett Academy working in Lakeland, according to a tweet from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

Victoria and Peter were still newlyweds, having just been married in June. They arrived in Florida from Maryland one day before the plane crash.

Victoria had launched a fundraising campaign before leaving Maryland to collect money to purchase school supplies for her fourth-graders. WBAL-TV quoted her as writing that, “My students will enjoy using their new folders, and I will be able to customize their learning even more so they can be as successful as possible.”

Both the Federal Aviation Administration the National Transportation Safety Board will be investigating the crash.  For more on the tragic Christmas Eve deaths, see the video accompanying this article.

Written by:  Ace News Today Staff