Small Plane Broke Apart in Mid-Air in 2012 Florida Crash

A National Transportation Safety Board details how a small plane carrying a Kansas businessman, his wife and their four children plunged to the ground after parts of both wings and the horizontal stabilizer broke off in mid-air.

But the report released Monday doesn’t say why the June 7, 2012, crash occurred. Agency spokesman Eric Weiss says a probable cause report will be released in six to eight weeks.

The Ledger of Lakeland reports pilot Ronald Bramlage was trying to avoid stormy weather before the plane dropped nearly 12,000 feet in about 36 seconds. The family was headed from the Bahamas to Junction City, Kansas.

Bramlage, his wife Rebecca and their children – ages 15 to 8 – all died in the crash in a remote area of Polk County.