Fiery Ohio Plane Crash Kills Several From Jewish Family Business
Eight of nine people killed in an Ohio plane crash have been identified, seven from one south Florida company.
The passengers were employees of PEBB Enterprises, a real estate company in Boca Raton. No one survived the Tuesday evening crash of the chartered plane in Akron, Ohio.
The company is a family business founded by the late Paul Wiener; its name is made up the first letters of the names of Weiner, his wife Eleanor and their two children Barbara and Bruce, the Palm Beach Post reported.
Among those identified as being killed in the crash is Jared Wiener, son of Bruce.
The other dead are: Diane Smoot, Thomas Virgin, Gary Shapiro, Ori Rom, Diana Suriel and Nick Weaver. Rom is Jared Wiener’s brother-in-law. Andres Chavez has been identified as one of the pilots of the plane.
Rabbis at two Boca Raton synagogues told WPTV that victims of the crash were members of their congregations.
“As anyone might expect. It’s surreal. It’s a shock, ” said Rabbi Robert Silvers of Congregation B’nai Israel.
The jet was operated by Execuflight, based at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, and owned by Augusto Daniel Lewkowicz.
PEBB replaced its website’s home page with a message: “Our hearts are broken this morning with the news of the tragic accident that took the lives of two principals and five employees of Pebb Enterprises. We are shocked and deeply saddened for the families, colleagues and friends of those who perished. Our first priority is to give our fullest support to the family members and loved ones of our co-workers.”
The plane, which made no distress signals, crashed into a residential apartment building, destroying several apartments. No one was in the apartments at the time of the crash.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
