A Chicago-area man had cocaine in his system when he was piloting a small plane that crashed two years ago in Florida, killing him and his daughter, a National Transportation Safety Board report has found.
The NTSB said cocaine in the system of Jeffrey Bronken, of Round Lake, caused impairment and was a contributing probable cause in the crash March 22, 2014, a few miles from St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport. The agency also said a probable cause was Bronken’s “inadequate fuel planning” that led to a “total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion.”
“Impairment from cocaine likely affected his preflight fuel planning abilities and en route fuel management,” the report notes.
Bronken, 53, was killed. His 15-year-old daughter, Katherine Bronken, died later of injuries suffered in the crash. A 15-year-old friend of the daughter was injured but survived.
Jeffrey Bronken and the two girls were headed to Florida for spring break in a Piper PA-28. According to the NTSB, the airplane was about 6 miles from the destination airport when the pilot reported a “fuel emergency” to air traffic control. “The pilot stated that he was going to attempt to land on a highway; however, the airplane collided with 160-foot-tall power lines that crossed the highway,” the report said.
The plane had taken off from Campbell Airport in north suburban Grayslake. It made a stop in Nashville, Tenn., before taking off for Florida, according to the report.
When applying for his most recent FAA medical certificate in 2013, Bronken noted he had more than 1,500 hours of flight experience, according to the NTSB report, which added that Bronken owned the plane he was flying that day since 2007.
