that's even wilder than the xenu event

Its all a part of Elron's plan.

On the fifth day of Christmas /
my true love gave to me /
five operational Thetans /
...

looks like one less M5 on the roads

From the local news..."18yo Joshua Ammirrato wrote bloggers about problems he had when he was driving his new $82,000 BMW M-5 at speeds above 140 mph, The Ocala Star-Banner reported."

This has been all over the news here in FL. Plenty of testimony by friends of the deceased on how they were all "good guys." Sad, but I don't recollect any of their friends mentioning they were "smart guys." If the news hadn't reported that it was a BMW, it would be near impossible to tell from the pictures. Apparently, some were wearing seat belts while others in the vehicle were not - didn't matter this time.

Hey, he beat Ken Block by 27ft!

Once I initially heard an M5 had flew off a runway and hit a tree, prior to the identity and age being released, instinctively under 21 came to mind. Just ridiculous, really, mixing five 18-20 boys in a post party 500hp joy ride. Stupid, Stupid Stupid.

@TBlueMax: I agree...good people still do stupid things. The only way to tell it was a BMW is by the shot of the wheel...very unique to the M5. Also, I CANNOT FATHOM not wearing a seatbelt at normal speeds, let alone at 150mph. Seriously, that is so damn dumb.

See what happens when you give a brainless teenager a dangerous toy? I feel sorry for the four friends he took with him.

Talk about outdriving your lights...

Is it better to be fully or partially ejected?

Can we really assume that they're all stupid? I've been in the back seat of a car plenty of times, screaming at the drive to slow down/get off the cell phone/pay attention etc.

@SRekauqh: Given the condition of the car, I think the seat belts wouldn't have helped much.

Rumor has it, Tom Cruise was in hot pursuit trying to convert them all to Scientology. It's all fun and games until someone loses the chance to cross the Bridge to Total Freedom!

just as long as the tree doesnt sue

Right now, one of those poor kids is standing at the Gate of St Peter,arguing that "it wasn't really me, it was the peer pressure".

It is really sad when the driver of this car takes 4 other lives. I wonder if there was any alcohol or drugs involved (probably). Unfortunately, the parents of the driver are not only going to have to grieve for their son, but it may alter their way of living forever due to the number of lawsuits that will result for this tragedy.

[maps.google.com],-82.117782&spn=0.032829,0.053902&t=h&z=15&om=0

I wonder if they had just finished watching "The Dukes of Hazzard?" YEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!! SSSSPPPPPLLLLAAAAATTTTT!!!

 
 
Google Maps view of the berm and trees in question:
 

Google Maps view of berm and trees.
 

Bonus view of Travolta's house and 707 parked out front.

So it's settled, Xenu does not fly around in a BMW shaped space ship.

Good to know.

So sad. My natural coping instinct is to use humor.

Who's starting up the "Save the M5's" teeshirt fund?

Does it look like Lt Mike Burroughs pasted on a phony mustache for his interview?

 
 
This article says that the posts were made on a bulletin board hosted at M5Board.com, which appears to have melted, probably due to massive traffic.

 
Runway 36 you are cleared for departure.

@-chet: I'm glad I'm not reading this at work. I wouldn't know how to explain what I'm laughing so hard at without sounding like a jerk.
@TBlueMax: That lone visible wheel does appear to be from an E60 M5.

@MotownWonker: I hear ya moto! I swear I thought this was going to be a spoof news event after looking at that guy's moustache.

I hope that kid's idiot parents are happy they bought their a son an $80k (or whatever) car so that he could be in the cool crowd. That worked well, mom and dad.

(From Ocala.com)
"Details about the tragic car crash at Greystone Airport that claimed the lives of five young men early Saturday are still emerging, and it may be some time - if ever - before investigators piece together all the pertinent facts.
One thing is certain. The families and friends of Jacob James Casey, 19; James Devon Hime, 19; Joshua D. Ammirato, 18; Dustin J. Dawe, 19; and Isaac Rubin, 20 are devastated.
All five were pronounced dead at the scene after an apparent high-speed crash that investigators say likely involved alcohol.
Ammarito was driving his father's 2008 BMW M5 sedan. The $80,000 car, registered to Santo Ammarito, was traveling north on the 1.5- mile-long airstrip that actor John Travolta and others regularly use to fly in and out of Ocala.
Florida Highway Patrol Captain Jeff Succi said there were yaw, or sideways, skid marks at the end of the runway, indicating the car turned sideways before launching over an embankment. It then sailed through the air about 200 feet before slamming into a large tree and bursting into flames.
Troopers believe the car traveled over the 80- to 85-foot high embankment at the end of the airstrip and stuck the tree about 15 feet above the ground. The car broke into two pieces upon impact."

oh and:

Joshua Ammirato... had been ticketed four times in less than two years, court records show.

The last ticket that Ammirato, 18, received was on Jan. 23, just a couple of days before he and four other young men died in the fiery crash. The offense: violation of traffic control device.

March 15, 2006, driving between 20 and 29 mph over the speed limit.

June 2006, driving between 1 and 9 mph over the speed limit and for driving with a suspended license

@The Comedian:
I already had some sympathy for the passengers, but reading that article, I actually felt bad for the kid. He doesn't sound like an asshole, just a spoiled 18 year old with the bad fortune to be born to some incredibly rich, incredibly stupid parents. I mean, if you had had 3 BMWs (all less than 2 years old) when you were that age, and lived *on a private airstrip* wouldn't you be tempted?
Still and all--top speed runs on a short runway do sound like a perfect recipe for a really bad day. 0-60? 1/4 mile drags? Maybe. As long as you aren't worried about Xenu landing his Boeing on your head.

Is that trooper wearing eye makeup?

Sounds like this kid's been watching too much top gear. He should have paid more attention to the addition of distance markers towards the end of the runway.

From the forum in question.... Just sad....

"
Let me say I am beginner when it comes to high performance cars as I am only 18 so take it easy on me."

@PeteJayhawk:

Well, the 21yo "friend" of these suckers the Ocala paper interviewed was on his 2nd M5, as his old one wasn't fast enough. So, apparently if you don't have one in this gated community, you're a sore loser.

By loser, I mean probably humbly living.

Those poor kids sprayed more carbon over that airstrip than Travolta's 707 on it's way to the last Global Warming Summit.

I thought Darwinism had been avoided by pretty much everyone, given how the lowest-common-denominator how dropped, but there are those who aren't going to be able to dodge his bullet, regardless.

While I find I feel for the passengers, though not as much after learning more about them, typically one should know better. They were certainly all old enough. It wasn't like there was a 13 & 14 year old dragged along for the ride. That, IMO, is much sadder.

What was left out of the commentary was somewhat important:

"Troopers believe the car traveled over the 80- to 85-foot high embankment at the end of the airstrip and struck the three about 15 fee above the ground. The car broke into two pieces upon impact. The tree lost three leaves."

Mother nature will kick your ass if you don't respect physics.

Speaking of Xenu, even scarier than that ride is this video: [gawker.com]

Too bad Tom Cruise wasn't there to help them. Only he could have saved them.

@dolo54: Oh, but Tom "Missionary Impossible" was there...

stupidity: it's a helluva drug

There's hooning and there's being stupid. Pretty obvious which one this is.

Though sometimes merely surviving places you in the latter category I suppose.

@cyclopticgaze: Don't you mean "former".

When I read things like this I remember all that stupid, scary stuff I did in my car back when I was 17 and in high school.

What is the 140mph to zero braking distance of an M5 with five people in it?

I figure it would be over 600 feet for a car and driver, but with another 500 pounds in the car I figure it could easily be over 800 feet.

All this assuming you can keep the headlights forward facing and the shiny side up.

I escaped too many close calls in my years of hoonage to have anything but sympathy and sadness for the fellows who lost their lives. This has nothing to do with stupidity, but goes to show that testosterone and 500 hp don't turn you into Mario Andretti. Looking back, it seems that the only thing that saved my friends and I from a bad outcome were 400 fewer hp, some high performance driver (not hi-po car) training that might have helped me steer and eventually made me aware that I'm not Mario, and a bit of good luck.

@SRekauqh: @BlackIce_GTS: Good call on the M5 wheel, I must've been hypnotized by the trooper's mustache and didn't notice.

@Uncle Trash: Personally, I would carefully consider getting in an M5 with a teenager behind the wheel (unless he was a professional driver with a decade of experience). Of course, I'm in my mid-30's now and already passed that "death wish" stage of life in my teenage years. At 18, I probably would've gladly gone for a joy ride in an M5. Heck, I probably would've asked to drive.

@AmishJohn: Yes--if you split your ride in half, you are pretty much ejected by default.

I have read that collisions with trees are the single greatest cause of auto-related deaths. Just a few blocks from me on an ordinary residential street 3 high school kids were killed, missed a slight curve while speeding, and hit a rather small tree. All 3 drinking. All 3 dead. The tree has a small bark scar.

I wonder how the BMW would have nailed the landing in one piece had it just hit the ground vs. sliced in two by tree.

@The Comedian: Edmunds tested 60-0 at 112 ft. Figure you multiply that by 3 for driver alone, that only puts you at 336 ft. driver only. The weight is the harder thing to figure out there, but I wouldn't put it over 600 ft.

In all seriousness, let's give some credit for this guy performing this darwin-testing run on a private runway and not on public roads where innocent bystanders could have been killed.