On Tuesday( 10 March 2023), two tiny planes collided over Lake Hartridge in Winter Haven, Florida, killing four persons, according to authorities.
Faith Irene Baker, 24, of Winter Haven, Zachary Jean Mace, 19, of Winter Haven, and Randall Elbert Crawford, 67, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania were found to be among the four victims of the crash. She was identified by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office late Tuesday night after hours of searching.
Baker, a Sunrise Aviation pilot and flight instructor, and Mace, a student at Polk State College, were aboard a Cherokee Piper 161. While in flight, Crawford was in a Piper J-3 Cub. It has not yet been determined who the fourth passenger was on the Piper J-3 Cub. The Sheriff’s Office reported that the focus of the effort had shifted from rescue to recovery.
According to USA Today, The sheriff’s office reported that the two planes that collided over the lake in central Florida at around 2 p.m. Tuesday had only four persons on board. You’ll find the lake east of the Winter Haven Regional Airport. According to Steve Lester, the chief of staff for the sheriff’s office, the 911 call about the crash of two small planes over Lake Hartridge came in at 2:04 p.m.
There have been several cases like this that have ended in the deaths of people, and we have reported on approximately the other:
- Black Hawk Helicopter Crashed in Alabama, Killing Two Members of National Guard
- In a BVR Tesla crash, The Driver Killed Himself
On Tuesday afternoon, a diving crew went onto the lake, where they spotted the wingtip of a jet that had crashed and was only partially submerged. Lester estimated that the second plane was submerged roughly 21 feet.
The Sheriff’s Office said the Piper J-3 Cub was a seaplane. It was based out of Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Winter Haven. Sunrise Aviation of Ormond Beach flew a Cherokee Piper 161 on behalf of Polk State College. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board investigate the crash.
