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FAA: Plane collision on ground kills 2

Other News Materials 1 March 2008 22:16 (UTC +04:00)
FAA: Plane collision on ground kills 2

( AP )- Two planes collided and burst into flames on the ground Saturday at a central Florida airport, killing two people, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

Two other people were critically injured.

One airplane was apparently flying low or had just landed when it crashed into the other plane around 8:30 a.m., said Scott Gaenicke, public information officer for Titusville Fire and Emergency Medical Services.

Gaenicke said the plane on the ground appeared to be taxiing to a ramp area when it was hit. Two people who were in that plane were killed, Gaenicke said.

The other plane cartwheeled for about 100 yards before landing belly-up on a grass median at the airport, Gaenicke said. Bystanders aided two people who were in that plane, which also caught fire, he said.

"It's kind of shocking," he said. "It's certainly devastating to see."

They were flown to Orlando Regional Medical Center with severe burns. Gaenicke said one of the survivors was in "grave" condition and the other was in extremely critical condition.

One of the planes was a single-engine aircraft registered to Christen Air Inc. in Wilmington, Del., according to the FAA's online aircraft registry. A telephone listing for that company was not immediately found.

Gaenicke said both of the planes involved are considered experimental aircraft.

"They're not like your off-the-shelf, already pre-manufactured (aircraft)," Gaenicke said. "These are home-built type aircraft that one would be as a kit and put together."

Gaenicke said a group of experimental aircraft enthusiasts were meeting at the airport at the time of the collision. The airport remains closed, he said.

Gaenicke said this was the first incident he can recall where two planes have collided at the airport.

The air park is an uncontrolled air field and doesn't have a control tower, the FAA said.

The Arthur Dunn Airpark at Titusville, just west of the John F. Kennedy Space Center, was closed. FAA investigators were on the scene. National Transportation Safety Board inspectors were expected to arrive later Saturday.

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