Plane Crash: Vinoy Park, Florida Air Crash Injures 4, Including Teen Girl
A plane crash in Vinoy Park, which occurred on the morning of September 15, has left four people injured. The Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft crash-landed in the St. Petersburg, Florida, park at 10:30 a.m after the pilot attempted to land the plane but clipped a tree and lost control. Prior to the Vinoy Park plane crash, the aircraft had experienced unspecified engine problems. The site of the air crash is close to the small airport that was the plane’s original destination. Albert Whitted Airport is located about one mile south of the park.
According to CBS News, local police identified the pilot as 57-year-old Grant Jordan. The other three passengers were 52-year-old Aloysius Ryan, 48-year-old Eamonn Harnell, and one 16-year-old girl, though some published reports put the girl’s age at 17. All four passengers are believed to be Irish citizens, and they all sustained injuries in the Vinoy Park plane crash. Two of them were seriously injured while the other two sustained lesser injuries.
Jordan and Ryan were listed in stable but serious condition at at Bayfront Health South, St. Petersburg Tribune reported. Harnell and the unnamed teen suffered only minor injuries in the plane crash. Vinoy Park comprises nearly 12 acres of scenic downtown waterfront land. It is frequently used for special events and hosts various holiday events such as their annual waterfront lights and display.
Police used Twitter to ask locals to avoid driving in the Vinoy Park area in St. Petersburg due to the investigation into the small plane crash. Authorities shared photos of the plane crash in Vinoy Park and even identified the pilot on social media.
Pilot’s name is Grant Jordan. pic.twitter.com/mO9fdNzwFR
— St. Pete Police (@StPetePD) September 15, 2014
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, an armored car crash made headlines last month when the vehicle overturned on a Cranston, Rhode Island, highway at the Reservoir Avenue overpass. When the vehicle overturned, it dumped white canvas duffel bags and clear plastic bags filled with money on the asphalt. State police oversaw the transfer of the bags of cash from the crashed armored truck into a second vehicle. Like the Vinoy Park plane crash, the occupants of the armored car were injured, but thankfully there were no fatalities.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating the plane crash in Vinoy Park. Officials have not yet determined the cause of the air crash.
[Image via St. Petersburg Police Twitter]
