On Tuesday, March 7, two small planes collided over central Florida, killing all four passengers.
Police responded to a 911 call about the collision over a lake around 2:00 p.m.
Winter Haven, Florida law enforcement agencies launched a search and rescue operation to find the occupants of the planes that collided above Lake Hartridge near Winter Haven Regional Airport, south of Orlando.
The Polk County Sheriff’s Office identified the deceased passengers as Faith Irene Baker, a pilot for Sunrise Aviation and a flight instructor, 24; Zachary Jean Mace, a Polk State College student, 19; Louis C. Defazio, 78, of Fredricksburg, Texas; and Randall Elbert Crawford, 67, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, one of the planes was operated by Sunrise Aviation and the other by Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base.
One plane was floating beneath the surface of the water, and the other was submerged about 21 feet below the lake bed, according to police.
The collision is being investigated by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.