SANFORD, Fla. — Dr. Bruce Kennedy, husband of International Speedway Corp. President Lesa France Kennedy, and four others died when Kennedy’s plane crashed into a housing development near here July 10.
Kennedy and co-pilot Michael Klemm, a senior captain with NASCAR Aviation, were the only passengers in the plane. Three people — Janize Joseph-Woodward (24) , Joseph Woodward III (six months old) and Gabriela Dechat (4) — on the ground were killed and three others injured.
While it was not completely clear who was flying the plane, it is believed Kennedy was practicing to earn his pilot’s license. The twin-engined Cessna 310 was owned by Competitor Liaison Bureau, Inc., a company affiliated with NASCAR and ISC.
The plane left Daytona Beach Int’l Airport and was bound for Lakeland when it attempted an emergency landing at Orlando Sanford Int’l Airport, but it never made it to the runway.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Dr. Bruce Kennedy and others that have been lost or injured in this tragic accident,” said ISC Executive Vice- President and COO John Saunders. “We ask that you respect the privacy of the Kennedy and France families while they deal with this terrible loss.”
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the accident.
Dr. Kennedy, 53, was a prominent plastic and reconstructive surgeon. It is the second tragedy to hit NASCAR’s France family in six weeks, as Lesa France Kennedy’s father and longtime NASCAR Chairman Bill France, Jr. died June 4.
Both Kennedy and the 56-year-old Klemm, who had been a NASCAR pilot for 21 years, were memorialized on Friday, July 13.