UPDATE 12:15 P.M.: St. Petersburg Police identify the victims in this morning's plane crash in Vinoy Park as Grant Jordon, 67, the plane's pilot; Aloysious Ryan, 52; Eamonn Harnell, 48; and a 17 year-old female.
Jordon and Ryan are both listed in serious, but stable condition at Bayfront Hospital. Harnell and the female passenger had minor injuries. All four are believed to be from Ireland.
Federal Aviation Administration investigators are already on scene.
ORIGINAL POST AT 11:58 A.M.: Two people are hospitalized after a small plane crash landed in Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg this morning.
St. Petersburg Police say three men and a 16 year-old girl, all citizens of the United Kingdom, were on board the single-engine plane, which was traveling from Tallahassee to Albert Whitted Airport.
The pilot reportedly told police the plane suffered engine failure as it was approaching the airport and he had to attempt to land in Vinoy Park. Witnesses say the plane barely missed the nearby Vinoy condominium towers before striking a tree near Fifth Avenue NE and Bayshore Drive during its landing attempt.
Two of the occupants have been transported to a local hospital as trauma alerts. The two others apparently suffered minor injuries.
It's the second small plane crash near downtown St. Petersburg in a little over two weeks. The pilot of a banner plane died August 31st after crashing into Tampa Bay shortly after taking off from Albert Whitted.
