Girl, 17, Among 3 Killed In FL Small Plane Crash While Traveling To College Visit

BOCA RATON, FL — Three family members traveling to Tallahassee for a college visit were identified as the victims of a Friday morning small plane crash in Boca Raton, according to multiple reports.

Brooke Stark, 17, and her 54-year-old father, Stephen Stark, both of Delray Beach, and her grandfather, Robert Stark, 81, of Boca Raton were identified as the victims, police told The Palm Beach Post.

They were traveling to visit Florida State University with Brooke, a senior at Atlantic High School, reports said.

The plane, a Cessna 310R propeller aircraft, was flying unusually low before the crash around 10:15 a.m. and circled several times after leaving from Boca Raton Airport. The pilot reported rudder issues.

• Also Read: 3 Dead, 1 Injured In Small Plane Crash In South FL: Reports

The plane crashed along Military Trail, near the Glades Road overpass not far from Interstate 95, and caught fire when it hit the ground, Boca Raton police wrote in a Facebook post.

All three onboard were killed in the crash and two bodies were found on train tracks in the area.

A car heading north on Military Trail lost control amidst the fire and crashed into a tree, police said. The driver sustained non-life-threatening injuries.

The victim’s family told Fox 29 that the three were traveling in Robert’s plane, which he used to support those affected by Hurricane Dorian.

“Robert was adventurous, kind, adored his family and started his business from the ground up,” according to a family statement. “He was the kind of man who could build anything, do anything.”

His son, who took over the family business, was known first as a “father and husband first, passionate musician, hilarious and kind man who made every room feel like the exact place you wanted to be,” the statement said.

They also described Brooke as a “brilliant student and kind-hearted friend, who would have gone on to change the world with her bright smile and smart wit.”

Brooke’s classmates are also mourning the student’s loss.

“It’s just extra sad because she made it so far, and right when she’s about to make it to the finish line, things happen and it’s really unfortunate,” her classmate Jason Timothee told CBS 12.

“She was kind and outgoing,” another student, Ryan Monestime, said. “There’s a lot of words you can use, but they really don’t encapsulate everything that she was. Because she was so much more.”