Callahan & Blaine

An Iraq war veteran and his nine-year-old daughter were killed after being struck by a plane making an emergency landing on a Venice, Florida beach, according to a news report.

Officials said that a 1972 Piper Cherokee making an emergency landing on Caspersen Beach hit Army Sgt. 1^st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, of Fort Stewart, Georgia, and his nine-year-old daughter, Oceana Irizarry.  The father was pronounced dead at the scene; his daughter was taken to a local hospital with critical injuries and died from her injuries the next day.

The plane’s pilot, Karl Kokomoor, and his passenger, David Theen, both of Englewood, Florida, were not injured.  Kokomoor was quoted as saying he never saw the father and daughter on the beach, explaining that he was trying to find a remote area to land his disabled aircraft.

The Irizarry family was in Florida to celebrate the couple’s ninth wedding anniversary; Rebecca Irizarry was not with her husband and daughter on their beach walk, but Ommy’s mother was and had to be treated for cardiac issues at a local hospital following the tragedy.

Callahan & Blaine successfully handled a very similar airplane crash lawsuit in South Carolina Federal Court, obtaining a significant settlement on the first day of trial in that case.

If you or a loved one is involved in an accident that causes death or serious injury, call the Orange County personal injury attorneys at Callahan & Blaine, California’s Premier Litigation Firm.  We are one of the leading catastrophic Orange County personal injury law firms. In fact, in the last five years alone our lawyers have obtained over $1.5 billion in verdicts and settlements, including a record breaking $50 Million settlement against the City of Dana Point, which has been certified as the largest personal injury settlement in the history of the United States.

Callahan & Blaine also has numerous other record-breaking verdicts and settlement in Orange County, including the largest jury verdict in the history of Orange County ($934 Million), the largest class action settlement ($38 Million), the largest insurance bad faith judgment ($58 Million) and the largest employment law settlement ($38 Million).  Callahan & Blaine also has recent personal injury settlements of $28 Million for a driver who was hit by a runaway truck wheel on the freeway,  $17 Million for a bicycle accident on Pacific Coast Highway,  $7.25 Million for a bus accident, $7 Million for a bicyclist who was struck by a delivery truck, and $6 Million for a bicyclist struck by an airport shuttle bus.

If you or someone you know has suffered a catastrophic injury or died as the result of an accident, please contact our Orange County law firm for expert legal counsel.