[AP] A new air hazard -- unscheduled flying automobiles

http://news.therecord.com/News/Break...article/300734


Speeding car flies off embankment at end of Florida runway; 5 young men
dead

January 26, 2008
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

OCALA, Fla.

Florida police say a car travelling at high speed down a private airport
runway ran off an embankment and flew about 60 metres [~197 feet] before
smashing into a tree.

The Florida Highway Patrol says all five young men in the vehicle were
killed.

Investigators do not know if the BMW was alone or racing another car on
the air strip.

The runway is located at the exclusive "fly-in" community of Jumbolair
Aviation Estates, where actor John Travolta - an avid flyer - has a home.

The preliminary investigation shows the car ran off the 26-metre-high [~
85 feet] embankment at the end of the runway.

When it struck the large tree, the car split in half, scattering wreckage
over an area of almost 20 square metres [-215 sq. feet].

Three of the five occupants were ejected in the crash early Saturday, said
Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Mike Burroughs.

"It's too early in the investigation to determine a speed and also to
determine whether seat belts were in use at the time of the crash,"
Burroughs said.

Two of the five men - ages 18 to 20 - were from Ocala, two were from
Fairfield and one was from Anthony, but it was not clear if any of the men
lived within the gated community.

-- 30 --

--
Like cars in amusement parks, our direction is often determined through
collisions.

-Yahia Lababidi, writer (b. 1973)