Father, 53, dead as two teen girls survive after plane he was piloting crashes in Florida

An Illinois father is dead, his teen daughter and her friend are injured after a plane he was piloting nose-dived into a residential neighborhood Saturday morning in Florida. Jeffrey Bronken, 53, died, but daughter Katherine Bronken and Keyana Linbo, both 15, survived the early morning crash in suburban Tampa. The trio, all from Chicago suburb Round Lake, were headed to nearby St Peteresburg – Clearwater International Airport when the plane crashed around 4 a.m., WTSPreported. The two girls are in critical condition at a Tampa hospital. Authorities told Bay News 9that the single-engine Piper knocked out power to locals after clipping power lines on its way down. The plane crashed on a busy six lane road in the town of Safety Harbor, just across the bay from Tampa. No other injuries were caused by the accident, and investigators have yet to determine a cause. ‘This happened at 4 a.m., so luckily, no one was on the road at that time in this vicinity,’ Pinellas County Sheriff's Office spokesman Sgt. David DiSano told Bay News 9. The red and white plane left Chicago around 6.30 Friday night, officials said. It is not clear why they were headed to Florida, but the pilot may have been flying the two girls south for a Spring Break trip. A neighbor of the Bronken’s confirmed to the Chicago Tribunethe father and daughter were aboard the plane, and also that widow Susan Bronken was already headed to Florida. People near the site of the crash described the sights and sounds that woke them early Saturday morning to the Tampa Bay Times. Marina Brown, 20, said she heard a loud noise and saw a flash of light followed by sparks. It looked like ‘fireworks shooting up from the ground,’ according to Mary Pronesti. Bill Tregulas said it sounded ‘like a large guitar snapping.’ Another person told Bay News 9 that he head a ‘big boom,’ saw a flash of light and initially dismissed it as a thunder storm. Emergency responders from several agencies responded quickly to the scene. It looked like ‘fireworks shooting up from the ground,’ according to Mary Pronesti. Bill Tregulas said it sounded ‘like a large guitar snapping.’ Another person told Bay News 9 that he head a ‘big boom,’ saw a flash of light and initially dismissed it as a thunder storm. Emergency responders from several agencies responded quickly to the scene. The aircraft never caught fire, but several small fires along the median where it came to rest nose-first with its tail in the air were put out by firefighters. More than 1,100 households lost power immediately after the deadly crash, but that numbers was reduced to about 450 by 6 a.m. according to the Tampa Tribune. The airport the trio was flying to is less than a mile from the scene. Both teen girls remain hospitalized, their prognosis is not immediately known.