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Pilot in Deadly Florida Beach Crash: 'I Never Saw Them'

Pilot Karl Kokomoor sent "my heartfelt apologies" to the family of a dad and daughter killed when his single-engine plane crashed in Florida.
Image: A plane crash-landed on Caspersen Beach in Venice, Fla., on Sunday.
A plane crash-landed on Caspersen Beach in Venice, Fla., on Sunday, killing a man and his daughter on the beach.Courtesy Zack Arceneaux

The devastated pilot who crashed-landed on what he thought was a deserted Florida beach, but instead struck and killed a father and his nine-year-old daughter, said he never saw the pair and apologized to their families.

Pilot Karl Kokomoor said in a statement that "I send my heartfelt apologies to the Irizarry family for my role in this tragic accident … The plane hit the water with the nose down to rest at water's edge. It was only after I exited the plane did I realize there were people on the beach. I never saw them,” NBC affiliate WBBH reported.

U.S. Army Sgt. Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana Irizzary, were walking along Casperson Beach in Venice, Florida, Sunday when they were struck by the single-engine plane as it crash-landed. WBBH reported the pilot steered his ailing craft to that section of beach because he thought it was empty.

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