One Dead and Two Injured in Volusia County Plane Crash

By Orlando Personal Injury Attorney on November 6, 2015

A plane crash in Volusia County on October 10th, left one man dead and two others injured. The small Cessna plane, which had three people on board, crashed shortly before 2 p.m. near Bunnell Road in Seville, an unincorporated community in the northern portion of the county, according to Andrew Gant, spokesman for the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.

Passenger Jeffrey Luong, 27 of Port Orange, was pronounced dead at the scene. The two survivors, 26-year-old pilot Mark Michael Repanshek of Port Orange and 24-year-old passenger Jarrett Bruckner of Furlong, Penn., were airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach, Gant said. All three of the occupants were alumni of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace.

According to the school, Luong graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Aviation Maintenance with a minor in Aviation Safety. Repanshek and Bruckner are current online graduate students with Embry-Riddle Worldwide, and Bruckner is a former Embry-Riddle certified flight instructor at the Daytona Beach campus, according to the school. A recent statement released by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said "We are in the early stages of investigating the accident and we are in the effect gathering stage at this time, not the analysis stage point, which will come later. We have interviewed the pilot and have documented the site and have done a preliminary investigation of the aircraft. This investigation is ongoing and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is working with NTSB."

Aviation accidents such as this are not common, but when they occur the results are often fatal. Very few people walk away from a plane crash, and as exemplified by this case, the investigation can take several weeks or months to complete. After every plane crash the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the probable cause of the crash. The causes of airplane accidents vary widely but defective parts, failure to perform appropriate maintenance, and pilot error are three of the most common causes of aviation accidents.

If you have questions concerning how or why an airplane accident occurred, please call the Law Offices of James O. Cunningham, P.A. today at 877-FL-INJURY (877-354-6587) for an appointment to discuss your legal rights. In such an important legal case, it’s best to have an experienced aviation accident attorney by your side, who has worked with victims of plane crashes and the NTSB before.

James O. Cunningham

Since 1977, personal injury lawyer James Cunningham has provided effective legal advocacy to people who are injured through the negligent actions of another person or entity throughout the Central Florida area. He fights to obtain recoveries for his clients’ physical and emotional pain and suffering and pursues his clients’ personal injury cases with a commitment to excellence and impeccable preparation.