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Re: Five dead after car crashes off end of private airstrip
(CNN) -- Five young men died Saturday when the car they were in drove off the end of a private airstrip near Ocala, Florida, became airborne for 200 feet and slammed into an oak tree, authorities said.
"This had to be the worst vehicle crash that I have ever seen during my career," said Randy Robinson, a spokesman for the Emergency Medical Services Alliance with 27 years on the job.
The 2008 BMW was split in two in the wreck, which happened at 3:45 a.m., said Lt. Mike Burroughs, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol Troop B.
He told CNN the victims -- 18 to 20 years old and all from the area -- were declared dead at the scene.
Burroughs said it was not clear how the car got onto the private Greystone community airstrip -- the same one actor John Travolta uses for his aircraft -- but the car was driving north on Runway 36, which is 1.5 miles long.
"It is evident that the driver of the vehicle saw he was approaching the end of the runway," Burroughs said. "He attempted a braking maneuver and the vehicle slid sideways off the end of the runway."
The car flew through the air for 200 feet, he said, and struck an oak tree 15 feet off the ground, splitting the vehicle in two.
Three of the occupants were ejected -- one landing 40 feet away, Burroughs said.
The engine block of the BMW was completely dislodged and wreckage from the car was found over a 200-square-foot area, the FHP spokesman said.
It was not known if the victims were wearing seat belts and the agency was awaiting the results of toxicology tests from the medical examiner's office to find out if alcohol or drugs played a role, Burroughs said.
The airstrip's private taxiways back up to homes in the Jumbolair and Greystone gated communities.
