Five killed when plane crashes into Florida homes

ORLANDO, Fla., July 10 (Reuters) A small plane attempting an emergency landing crashed into two houses near Orlando, Florida, today, killing at least five people and causing an intense fire, investigators said.

The twin-engine Cessna 310 was registered to a corporation linked to NASCAR racing and one of those killed, the pilot of the plane, was the husband of NASCAR official Lesa France Kennedy, officials of the popular US motorsport said.

The plane took off from Daytona International Airport en route to Lakeland, Florida but the pilot reported smoke in the cockpit and it slammed into a residential neighborhood in Sanford, near Orlando in central Florida, investigators said.

''We can confirm there were two people on board, including the pilot, Dr Bruce Kennedy, and Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation. Both were killed in the crash,'' Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications, said in a statement.

The other three people killed, two children and an adult, were in the houses when the plane hit, fire officials said.

A 10-year-old boy who was in one of the homes was critically injured with third-degree burns over 80-90 per cent of his body, according to fire investigator Matt Minnetta.

Minnetta, who helped load the boy into an ambulance, called him ''a tough kid.'' ''He was not talking. He was severely burned,'' Minnetta said. ''All the real talking he did was just a thumbs up.'' The boy's parents were injured and his 4-year-old sister was missing, Minnetta said.

The pilot attempted an emergency landing in a field, but crashed into the two houses. Investigators said debris was scattered as far as seven houses away from the crash site.

Officials said the plane was registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau Inc, a Daytona Beach-based company affiliated with NASCAR, or the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

Bruce Kennedy, a plastic surgeon, was the husband of France Kennedy, the president of International Speedway Corp, which owns and manages racetracks and promotes NASCAR events.

France Kennedy is the daughter of Bill France, the son of NASCAR founder William France Sr.

Bill France, credited with helping grow stock car racing into a multibillion-dollar sports industry and the No 2 professional sport in terms of US television ratings, died last month at age 74.

Reuters RKM VP0155