Five Die in Twin-Engine Plane Crash At Bartow Airport

BARTOW, FL - Five people died Sunday morning in the crash of a twin-engine airplane at the Bartow Municipal Airport, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said. The pilot, 70-year-old John Hugh Shannon, a Lakeland attorney, and his four passengers died in the crash, the sheriff's office said.

The passengers were identified as: Shannon's two daughters, 24-year-old Olivia Shannon, a Southeastern University student, of Lakeland and 26-year-old Victoria Shannon Worthington, a Baltimore school teacher; Worthington's husband, 27-year-old Peter Worthington, Jr., a third-year law student at the University of Maryland; and family friend, 32-year-old Krista Clayton, a Lakeland school teacher at Jewett Academy.

John Shannon filed a flight plan Sunday morning to fly to Key West. His daughter and her husband arrived in Lakeland on Saturday for the holidays, from Baltimore. Krista Clayton joined the family on the trip.
Autopsies will be conducted later this week to determine the exact causes of death, according to the sheriff's office.

The National Weather Service was reporting that visibility in the area at the time of the crash was less than a quarter-mile because of fog.

The sheriff's office said preliminary information is that the Cessna 340 took off about 7:15 a.m. Sunday heading east, into heavy fog. For unknown reasons, but likely related to the fog, the plane crashed shortly after takeoff, according to the sheriff's office. The crash occurred near the PCSO Aviation Unit hangar, which is on Ben Durrance Road. The Polk County Mosquito Control Office is also nearby.

A fire that occurred after the plane crash was extinguished by Polk County Fire Rescue. The FAA and NTSB will investigate the cause of the crash.

Shannon was was a Marine Corp veteran and president of the Lakeland Republican Club. Gov. Rick Scott also reacted to the news of the crash and tweeted:

The Bartow Airport is located just off U.S. 17 near Spirit Lake Road. The airport is the former Bartow Air Base, a former U.S. Air Force base, located about 5 miles northeast of Bartow. The air base was closed in 1961.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Shannon, Worthington, and Clayton families. This is a tragedy any time, but it is so much worse because it happened on Christmas Eve. We are providing all of our resources to assist them with anything they need to help them get through this horrific tragedy," said Sheriff Grady Judd.

Image via Polk County Sheriff