NASCAR/ISC (DAYTONA) - Husband of ISC president killed in Florida plane crash

Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. president Lesa France Kennedy, died Tuesday when the plane he was piloting crashed.

At least four other persons were killed, including two children, Sanford Fire Chief Gerard Ransom confirmed. The identities of the dead were not released but NASCAR confirmed the identity of the Daytona Beach plastic surgeon.

Kennedy was piloting the Cessna 310 when it went down about 8:50 a.m. ET shortly after takeoff from Daytona International Airport. At a briefing shortly before 11 a.m., the Seminole County Sheriff's office said the pilot and co-pilot were both killed in the crash.

The plane crashed into one house and the resulting fire ignited another house next door. The crash occurred on Willowbay Ridge Court at a subdivision called The Preserve at Lake Monroe. Located near the Central Florida Zoo and the Orlando Sanford International Airport, the subdivision is comprised of new two-story single family homes.

"It was an extremely intense fire," said Matt Minnetto, a fire investigator with Sanford Fire Department. Lou-Ann Cappola, a schoolteacher who lives about a block away from the crash site, said residents of the subdivision are accustomed to noise from a nearby railyard. So she didn't think twice of it.

"I thought the trains were banging and making noise," she said. "I was on the porch and looked up and saw smoke - black, black smoke. At that point, all the sirens were coming."

Minnetto said a boy, believed to be about 10 years old, was among the injured, with about 80 percent to 90 percent of his body burned. Joe Brown, spokesman for Orlando Regional Medical Center, confirmed that two adults and child had been taken to that facility. He said he could release no names or conditions of the patients.

The twin-engine plane 310 was registered to Competitor Liaison Bureau Inc. of Daytona Beach, said Kathleen Bergen with the Federal Aviation Administration. Competitor Liaison is based in Daytona Beach and lists William C. France, the late chairman of NASCAR, as its registered agent in online records from the Department of State Division of Corporations. James C. France also is listed as an officer of the company.

The plane was traveling from Daytona Beach to Lakeland when the pilot declared smoke in the cockpit. The plane tried to land at the Orlando Sanford International Airport when it crashed about a mile or two north of the airport, Bergen said.

At a news briefing, authorities confirmed that two people died in the plane. Three people in the home that sustained the direct hit were injured, including a mother, father and 10-year-old boy who sustained burns over 80 to 90 percent of his body.

National Transportation Safety Board Spokesman Ted Lopatkiewicz said an investigator has been sent to the scene.

Kennedy's death came just five weeks after the June 4 death of Lesa France Kennedy's father, Bill France Jr. She serves as president of the family-run International Speedway Corp.