Four people killed after two small planes collide over Lake Hartridge in central Florida

Sara-Megan Walsh, Andy Kuppers and Christine Fernando, USA TODAY NETWORK
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Four people died Tuesday after two small planes collided over Lake Hartridge in Winter Haven, Florida, authorities said.

After hours of searching, the Polk County Sheriff's Office late Tuesday night identified three of the four people who died in the crash as Faith Irene Baker, 24, of Winter Haven; Zachary Jean Mace, 19, of Winter Haven; and Randall Elbert Crawford, 67 of Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

Baker was a pilot and flight instructor with Sunrise Aviation and was on a Cherokee Piper 161 aircraft with Mace, a student at Polk State College. Crawford was aboard a Piper J-3 Cub aircraft.

Investigators have yet to identify the fourth person, who was aboard the Piper J-3 Cub. The Sheriff's Office said crews have switched from a search and rescue operation to a recovery operation.

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The sheriff's office said the four people were the only occupants of the two planes that collided over the lake in central Florida at about 2 p.m. Tuesday. The lake is located just east of the Winter Haven Regional Airport.

The sheriff's office received a 911 call at 2:04 p.m. reporting two small planes had a mid-air collision over Lake Hartridge, said the sheriff's office chief of staff Steve Lester.

One partially submerged plane's wingtip could be seen from the lake shorefront as a dive team went out to the lake Tuesday afternoon. Lester said the second plane was about 21 feet underwater.

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The sheriff's office said the Piper J-3 Cub was a sea plane operated by Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven. The Cherokee Piper 161 fixed-wing plane operated was by Sunrise Aviation out of Ormond Beach on behalf of Polk State College.

The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

Polk County Sheriff Underwater Search & Recovery Team head toward the search area where an aircraft crashed into Lake Hartridge after colliding with another aircraft this afternoon in Winter Haven Fl Tuesday March 7,2023.There has been one confirmed fatality and divers are searching for the other plane which sank.Ernst Peters/The Ledger
Polk County Sheriff Underwater Search & Recovery Team head toward the search area where an aircraft crashed into Lake Hartridge after colliding with another aircraft this afternoon in Winter Haven Fl Tuesday March 7,2023.There has been one confirmed fatality and divers are searching for the other plane which sank.Ernst Peters/The Ledger

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Polk State College 'devastated' by student's death

Polk State College is offering mental health support on campuses, by phone and virtually after one of its students died in the crash, the school said in a Tuesday statement.

"Our Polk State College family is devastated by this tragedy," Polk State President Angela Garcia Falconetti said in a statement. "We extend our deepest condolences to their families, friends, and colleagues."

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd asked the public to "keep the families in your prayers."

"My heart goes out to the families and friends of those who were killed in today's crash," Judd said in a statement.

Tuesday night, the Sheriff's Office asked boaters to avoid Lake Hartridge as authorities continue to investigate.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Winter Haven, Florida, plane crash: 4 killed after mid-air collision