Investigators inspect the wreckage of two small planes that collided Thursday at Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport in Sarasota, killing four people, officials said.
BRADENTON — Two small planes collided on a runway at Sarasota Bradenton International Airport Thursday, killing four people in a fiery explosion, officials said.
The single-engine planes each carried two people, said Pat Cariseo, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board in Washington.
A controller had cleared one of the planes for takeoff from one of the airport’s two runways, Cariseo said. At the same time, the other plane requested permission to position the aircraft and hold on the same runway, a normal procedure before taking off. Controllers granted the request.
What happened next is not immediately clear, Cariseo said.
The planes, a Cessna 152 and a Cessna 172, collided at 10:37 a.m., airport spokesman Jim Naiman said.
No one on the ground was injured.
”There was a big fire, so everyone went out there,” said Rosalie Radtke, a secretary for Sarasota Avionics, located about a quarter-mile away. ”All the guys saw was a big ball of fire.”
Officials identified two of the victims, but did not release their names pending notification of relatives.
J. Kevin Drake, an attorney for Cirrus Aviation Flight School, said that though they have not been officially notified, ”we fear that it is an instructor and student. We fear the worst.”
Drake refused to identify the instructor and student.
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