BARTOW, Fla. – Five people were killed in a plane crash Sunday morning at a Polk County airport, the Polk County Sheriff's Office said.
Deputies said the private twin-engine Cessna 340 plane crashed near the end of a runway at Ben Durrance Road on the Bartow Air Base.
The plane was believed to have pulled out of the hangar around 6:30 a.m. and tried to take off around 7:15 a.m. before the crash took place around 7:20 a.m., the Sheriff's Office said.
Investigators said the runway runs east and west and that the plane took off to the east before crashing on the north side of the eastern portion of the runway.
Deputies said the plane caught fire after the crash and was fully engulfed in flames until Polk County Fire Rescue crews were able to put it out.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known, but deputies said it was likely related to fog.
"The video clip that I saw, that we possess now, clearly indicated no one should've attempted to take off in a small plane in that weather," Sheriff Grady Judd said.
Deputies said the crash took place near the Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit's hangar, and that one of their pilots who heard the plane take off was concerned that someone was trying to fly in the foggy conditions.
"One of our helicopter pilots was in the hangar, heard the plane starting to take off and thought to himself, 'My gosh. I can't believe someone is trying to take off in this weather,'" Judd said. "And he said it was just seconds later that he heard the change in the pitch of the blades, and the impact at the north end of the airport, not very far from our hangar."
Judd said an employee at the airbase had photographed the fog because he couldn't believe anyone was flying when he couldn't even see the aircraft.
All occupants of the plane were killed in the crash, according to the Sheriff's Office.
"There was no chance of survival," Judd said. 'When you look at the crash, the only thing that you can say is, 'Nobody suffered.'"
The five victims were later identified as John Shannon, 70, Olivia Shannon, 24, Victoria Shannon Worthington, 26, Peter Worthington, Jr., 27, and Krista Clayton, 32, authorities said.
John Shannon, the father of Olivia and Victoria and the pilot of the aircraft, was an attorney from Lakeland, Sheriff Judd said.
Victoria and her husband, Peter, had just traveled from Maryland Saturday to spend time with their family for Christmas, according to the sheriff. Victoria was a teacher in Baltimore and Peter was a third-year law student at the University of Maryland, of Baltimore, officials said.
Olivia was a student at Southeastern University, the sheriff said.
Krista Clayton, who has an 18-month-old and a 3-year-old daughter, was a family friend and teacher at Jewett Academy in Lakeland, according to Judd. Her children were at home when the crash took place.
Authorities said John had just filed a flight plan Sunday morning for the group to fly to Key West, have lunch and return Sunday afternoon.
The sheriff expressed his condolences for the victims' families, acknowledging that dealing with the loss of a family member killed the day before Christmas would be especially difficult.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Shannon, Worthington and Clayton families," Judd said. "This is a tragedy any time, but it is so much worse because it happened on Christmas Eve. We are providing all of our resources to assist them with anything they need to help them get through this horrific tragedy."
Judd said in a press conference before the victims were identified that he personally knew at least one man on the plane and he assumed they were departing for some sort of holiday festivity.
"Certainly we wish we could rewind this, and if we could, I would wrestle him to the floor to keep him from getting in that airplane this morning," the sheriff said.
The Sheriff's Office said it was conducting a death investigation. The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the cause of the crash, deputies said.
Autopsies were conducted on the victims Wednesday, the Sheriff's Office said. All four passengers' official causes of death were ruled blunt force trauma and their manners of death were ruled accidental, officials said. Deputies said John Shannon's cause and manner of death were still pending a toxicology report.
This is a developing story. Stay with News 6 and ClickOrlando.com for updates.