Five young men killed when BMW flies off runway
At about 3 AM early this morning, five young men were killed when the gray 2008 BMW they were riding in flew off the end of a runway's 85-foot embankment near Ocala, FL. The accident happend on the runway of the exclusive "fly-in" community of Jumbolair Aviation Estates, where John Travolta happens to live.
Police say the guys were apparently racing the unidentified (and from the photos online, unidentifiable) BMW, but don't know if another car was involved. Skid marks at the end of the runway indicate the driver attempted to stop, but was going too fast. The car sailed 200 feet before hitting a tree, breaking into pieces and catching fire. Authorities say the engine was actually ripped from the car in the crash.
No matter the circumstances, our thoughts are with the families as they go through this horrible tragedy.
To see video coverage from the scene, visit Ocala.com.
[Source: Ocala.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
k.w.a 11:26PM (1/26/2008)
lol, just don't let the heat from the engine get close to the surface.. that thing will light up faster than a volkswagen!
waiownsyou 5:02PM (1/26/2008)
Damn, son.
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Will 5:09PM (1/26/2008)
^Q.F.T.
jones 5:28PM (1/27/2008)
Autoblog: your censorship of reader opinions isn't helping the sitiuation here. Your bias to only positive comments about "sadness" is not constructive.
The driver is responsible for his actions and the resulting death of four other people. That's manslaughter in many states. "Outrage" is a perfectly acceptable response in addition to sadness. Let readers say so. That's the American way afterall, for better or for worse.
Papi L-Gee 6:22PM (1/27/2008)
+1.
I just said something to that effect.
Daniel 9:37PM (1/27/2008)
jones:
This is public site. Many people visit daily. Considering the seriousness of the situation in the article, the bloggers have the write to delete a post that offends even ONE person.
"Darwin" comments are inappropriate, so they get deleted. Among others.
Brando Wilson 12:12PM (3/28/2008)
I hope daddy reads this! The father, Mr.Ammirato, is just as responsible for the death of these five kids as if he gave his son a loaded assault rifle to play with! I read a blog stating " How could you write these things about Joshua you don't even know a #^&%*&^ thing about him", will yes I do. He was a spoiled, selfish, reakless, thrill seeking murderer, that is now dead. As far as Mr. Ammirato is concerned, he had to have know about his son's driving record, yet he still let him get behind the wheel of daddy's high powered BMW. I'm just glad Joshua didn't kill any innocent people when he used the public roads as his personal race track; thank god for the wealthy and their private airports! I hope the tree will survive, we can use all the oxygen we can get
thorani 5:13PM (1/26/2008)
Thats pretty sad. Based on the video footage, looks like a 2008 M5. They did a zoom in on one of the wheels.
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Andy 10:56PM (1/27/2008)
It is an M5, i can see it from the seats the car has.
Das jus stupid!! I bet they were trying to max out the car and thought it would just stop in time. Foolish! I wish my best to the these 5 especially to the four passengers.
bmw122487 5:24PM (1/26/2008)
Yeah i agree with "thorani" its is deffinently an M5, what a waste of life and car, sad!!!
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thorani 5:27PM (1/26/2008)
yeah, i thought it was an M3 first, but then i realised that no way to 1.) fit 5 in an m3, and 2.) the new one isnt out yet.
Aaron 5:27PM (1/26/2008)
That is horrible. absoutely horrible.
How fast must you be going to do that ? dammn
I just wrecked my stratus r/t coupe going 95 around in a corner.. the car hield up fine.. no damage besides scratches although it flew over an enbankment but only about 15 foot high. Still driving it.. & that was a wakeup call for me and now this article right here is another wake up call to everyone
slow down... no matter if you have BMW.. your ESP isn't going to save you..
thoughts & prayers go out to families
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waiownsyou 5:36PM (1/26/2008)
95 around a corner?
You "wrecked" it and it has "no damage besides scsratches although it flew over an [embankment]but only about 15 [feet] high."
Your story makes as much sense as a raccoon robbing a bank.
zamafir 5:39PM (1/26/2008)
x2, I totaled a ford explorer which pulled in front of me while I was going 24mph, and my veedub in the process, no car gets a scratch in an 95mph collision with anything, bush, berm, 15' drop.
Vik 5:46PM (1/26/2008)
Aaron- you must have had a miraculous set of circumstances for your car (and yourself) to come out with only scratches, but it sounds like you didn't hit anything or roll over. Looks like they wrapped the BMW around that tree.
Cornholio 6:55PM (1/26/2008)
"What's amazing is that you're still allowed to drive."
+1
You sound like a moron. A suggestion - take the bus.
Andy 10:55PM (1/27/2008)
Man i was snow drifting at no more than 5mph when my right rim caught the curb. Both right rims got dented so bad i had to buy new ones and realign them.
It may feel like u were going really fast but speed in cars. is always deceiving.
Aaron 5:41PM (1/26/2008)
yes i wrecked. the ground happend to be wet so the cops siad it helped slow my car down.. someone just died there the night before.. i have pictures if you would like..i was going 95 and hit a dip in the road and lost it..my car slid sideways on the road then went sideways up an hill that is about 10-15 feet high and then flew in the air and landed. it has bent rims & the body skirt is little loose but nothing major is what i meant. only like $2000 idk..or losing a life.. like these boys did.
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Derek 9:11PM (1/26/2008)
moral is: if you wreck at high speed, do it where there is a large grassy area to slow you to a stop, or a solid barrier to slide along - look at most racetracks.
You are lucky there was no tree in your path.
Pat 10:36PM (1/26/2008)
And yet you seem proud of your exploit ...