A prominent Florida lawyer and his family were among the dead in a plane crash, which killed five people in Bartow, Florida, on Sunday, Dec. 24.
On Sunday morning, Shannon was in the cockpit of his twin-engined Cessna 340 ready to fly from Polk County to Key West. Accompanying him were his daughters, 24-year-old Olivia Shannon and 26-year-old Victoria Shannon Worthington, Victoria’s husband, Peter Worthington Jr., 27, and family friend Krista Clayton, 32.
The 70-year-old accelerated down the runway about 7:15 a.m but a short time after taking off the plane plunged back down to the ground and caught fire, according to authorities. Everyone on board died on impact.
Authorities are not immediately certain what caused the plane to crash, however they suspect the heavy fog had played a role. A sheriff’s pilot in a nearby hangar told Tampa Bay Times the conditions on the day were not suitable for flying.
An airport authority who filmed part of the crash told authorities that he couldn’t believe “that they were taking off in this fog,” reported the newspaper.
“I’m just stunned, I think like everybody else,” Ben Hardin, a close friend, told the newspaper. “John was as fine and caring of a person as you would ever meet.”
His eldest daughter, Victoria, was a teacher in Baltimore, according to Judd. His youngest daughter, Olivia, was a student at Southeastern University in Lakeland.
Shannon’s son-in-law, Peter Worthington Jr., was a law student at University of Maryland School of Law, according to his Facebook page. Krista Clayton, the family friend, was a teacher at Jewett Academy in Winter Haven, reported the newspaper citing the sheriff. She had two children.
Shannon was described as a loving father who was a “mother and father to his girls.”
“His real love was his girls,” friend and former state Rep. Neil Combee told the newspaper. “He was mother and father to his girls.”
“He would want to be remembered as a good father,” Hardin said. “That was his life.”
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