Limo crash at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport sends 5 to hospital

Driver from Port St. Lucie

Those inside the 2008 Lincoln Navigator limo were its driver, a 75-year-old Port St. Lucie man, and the family, which consists of two parents, a 7-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy.
Photographer: Mike Jachles, spokesman for Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue

Regular Photo Size

Posted: 06/28/2012

By: Juan Ortega, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A limousine slammed into a concrete pillar inside an airport parking garage Wednesday, sending its five occupants — the driver and a family of four from Chicago — to the hospital, a fire spokesman said.

Those inside the 2008 Lincoln Navigator limo were its driver, a 75-year-old Port St. Lucie man, and the family, which consists of two parents, a 7-year-old girl and 13-year-old boy. All were taken from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Broward Health Medical Center, according to Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue spokesman Mike Jachles.

Jachles, citing initial reports, said none of the occupants' injuries were considered life-threatening.

Before 3:50 p.m., the limo struck a parked car on the ground level of the airport's Palm Parking Garage, then slammed into a pillar, Jachles said. The limo was totaled. The driver had apparently lost control of the vehicle. Still, the crash remains under investigation, Jachles said.

According to sheriff's deputies, the family of four had just been picked up from a flight from Chicago when the crash occurred, Jachles said.