ME Identifies Those Killed In Lauderdale Crash
FT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) - The Broward County Medical Examiner's Office has identified four people who died in a plane crash near Ft. Lauderdale Executive Airport earlier this month.
Using DNA and dental records, the ME determined the four people in the plane were John Van Ommeren, 51; Monique Van Ommeren, 49; Sacha Van Ommeren, 15 and 13-year old Sharissa Van Ommeren.
The Van Ommerens were from Paramaribo, Suriname.
The crash happened April 12th around 4:30 p.m. in a wooded section in the 2400 block of NW 62nd Street.
According to Federal Aviation Administration the Piper PA-31T had taken off from Orlando and was bound for Ft. Lauderdale. An investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said as the pilot approached the airport, he reported a problem.
"When he was about two miles from the runway he reported smoke in the cockpit. Shortly there after he made a transmission, it was an emergency type transmission, we don't have the exact details of it, but it was a distress call before the crash," said NTSB investigator Ralph Hicks.
The pilot was cleared for an emergency landing. The plane never made it. It went down about a quarter mile from the runway.
Several people in the area, who saw the plane go down, ran toward the crash site to see if they could help.
"We tried to get over there as fast as we could. We all jumped a bunch of fences, got back there. Probably got about five feet away from it but everything was already in flames," said Elyssa Service.
The wreckage was taken to Ft. Pierce where NTSB investigators will re-assemble it to try and determine what caused the plane to go down.