9-Year-Old Struck by Plane Dies

A plane crash on Venice’s Caspersen Beach has claimed another life.

Oceana Irizarry, 9, has died following the Sunday incident, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office learned today.

“Our precious Oceana has joined her daddy in heaven ....Oceana was a beautiful, intelligent and kind-hearted little girl. She was a natural artist who loved to learn. She was looking forward to the fourth grade,” the family said in a prepared statement, according to the Tampa Bay Times.

The crash that killed Oceana also claimed the life of her father Ommy, 36, on Sunday. The Irizarry family was in Florida on vacation. Ommy and his wife, Rebecca, were celebrating their ninth anniversary.

“Today, 9 years ago, I tied my life to my beautiful wife, Rebecca Irizarry,” Ommy, 36, wrote on his Facebook page just hours before he was struck and killed by a 1972 Piper Cherokee that crash-landed on the beach. “I am very happy and can’t wait to see what the next 100 have in store for us.”

Ommy, a Sergeant 1st Class in the U.S. Army, died on the beach. Oceana was taken to All Children’s Hospital.

Pilot Karl Kokomoor, 57, let the Venice Airport know his plane was in trouble and said he was going to try and bring it in on Caspersen Beach in Venice. Kokomoor and his passenger, David Theen, 60, both of Englewood escaped injury in the crash.

The crash remains under investigation.

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