Florida Beach Plane Crash: Father Killed, 10-Year-Old Daughter ‘Critically Wounded’

In a tragic plane crash on a Florida beach on Sunday, a 36-year-old father was killed and his 10-year-old daughter critically injured when they were hit by a small plane which was attempting to make an emergency landing where they were walking.

Ommy Irizarry and his daughter Oceana Irizarry were walking along the beach in Sarasota County, Florida, when a small plane made an emergency crash landing, killing Ommy on impact.

Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Wendy Rose told ABC News, “One man is deceased, and a young girl, possibly around the age of 10 is very critically injured.”

Oceana was airlifted by helicopter to All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, and was said to be “critical” by doctors.

Amazingly, neither the pilot, Karl Kokomoor, nor the passenger on the plane, David Theen from Englewood, were injured at all in during the emergency landing on the Florida beach.

Rose added, “The pilot radioed that he was not going to be able to make it back to the airport, and he was going to try to land on the hard-packed sand of the beach. He landed about the water’s edge and the pilot and his male passenger were both unharmed.”

Apparently the whole thing happened in what seemed to be a matter of seconds from the time the pilot radioed in distress to the crash landing.

“I do know the timing of his radio to the Venice Airport and immediate response was minutes so there was not, from what I understand, there was not a lot of time between his radio dispatch and the crash,” said Rose.

Venice Mayor John Holic told reporters that it is most likely that the aircraft lost power in flight and was trying to land in an open space or at nearby Venice Airport.

“One of the first things that you learn when you’re flying is to always be aware of your surroundings and where you may be able to touch down in the event of loss of power. A beach is a viable place,” he said.

The crash, which was witnessed by a woman who was also on the beach, was so horrific that the woman suffered from stress-induced cardiac issues and required medical attention at the scene.