NTSB Investigators Piece Together Events Leading Up To Plane Crash

WINTER HAVEN, FL — Federal investigators say it's likely that the pilots of the two small-engine planes that crashed in mid-air over Lake Hartridge near Winter Haven Regional Airport Tuesday didn't see one another until they were nose to nose and seconds away from colliding. that killed four people.

During a media briefing, National Transportation safety inspector Lynn Spencer said investigators are still reviewing video footage, air traffic control records, radio transmissions and interviewing witnesses.

"We are very grateful to the witnesses who came forward with their statements and videos," she said. "We would ask that they continue to reach out to us at witness@ntsb.gov or via phone at 844-373-9922.

She said investigators are now piecing together the events that led up to the head-on air collision that killed four people.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, a Piper J-3 Cub seaplane operated by Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven and a Piper PA-28 Cherokee fixed-wing plane operated by Sunrise Aviation in Ormond Beach on behalf of Polk State College collided in the air and plunged into the lake where the fixed-wing plane was visible just below the lake's surface. The seaplane sank to the bottom of the lake, 21 feet below the surface.

"The Piper Cherokee was making a left descending turn and came nose to nose with the Cub that attempted an evasive maneuver," Spencer said. "We don't know what either pilot could see at this point in the investigation. It's too early to have that information."

Whatever the pilots saw, the planes had reached the point of no return and collided head-on.

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The body of one of the four victims was found by first responders quickly after arriving at the crash scene. Two more were found after a lengthy search by boat and helicopter.

Once law enforcement officials verified that it was on a recovery operation rather than a search-and-rescue mission, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd released the names of those killed after the next of kin were notified.

Killed in the crash were Faith Irene Baker, 24, of Winter Haven, a pilot and flight instructor with Sunrise Aviation who was flying the Cherokee Piper 161; student pilot, Polk State College student Zachary Jean Mace, 19, of Winter Haven; Randall Elbert Crawford, 67, of Carlisle, Pennsylvania, who was flying the Piper J-3 Cub; and his passenger Louis C. DeFazio, 78, of Fredricksburg, Texas, and Winter Haven. Both Crawford and Defazio were seasoned pilots.

On Wednesday, Sea Tow Marine Salvage and Recovery of Florida brought its marine divers and the massive crane it uses to retrieve boats sunk during hurricanes to the crash site and lifted the bright yellow Cherokee Piper from the 437-acre lake. Spencer said the right wing of the Cherokee Piper came off during the collision and has yet to be recovered.

The Piper J-3 seaplane proved a bigger challenge due to its hard-to-reach resting place on the floor of the lake and the need to recover the mangled wreckage in as intact a condition as possible. The slow, meticulous process took hours but the seaplane was finally lifted out of the lake Thursday with the fourth body inside.

Both planes were placed on flat-bed trucks that were driven to an undisclosed facility in Jacksonville where the wreckage will be laid out and examined by investigators "to better understand exactly how these two planes came together as they did," said Spencer.

She said investigators originally thought the Piper Cherokee, which took off from Lakeland-Linder International Airport, was doing touch-and-go maneuvers in which the aircraft lands on the runway then accelerates and takes off again.

Instead, she said the pilot and student pilot were doing a full-stop landing and two go-around maneuvers in which the pilot suddenly aborts an approach.

"You come in for a landing but then add power rather than landing and you climb again and go around and come back to try to land again," Spencer said.

She said the PA-23 Cherokee announced its location and intentions on the Federal Aviation Administration's Common Traffic Advisory Frequency, known as CTAF.

"Approximately 40 seconds after the Cherokee announced that they were performing a short approach to runway 2-9 at Winter Haven, we have another transmission announcing they are making a left base turn," she said.

Since the Cherokee was announcing its location and intention and the Cub was not, "this might indicate that the Cherokee was unaware of the Cub," she said. "If the Cub could not hear what the Cherokee was announcing, they may have been unaware of the Cherokee.”

At the same time that Baker and Mace were making the left base turn, Crawford and Defazio were preparing to land on the lake in the seaplane. She said this appears to be one of the pilots usual courses as it headed to its destination on Lake Jessie where Jack Brown's Seaplane Base is located.

"We know from preliminary review of these videos that the J-3 Cub attempted to dive to the right immediately before the collision," she said.

Neither plane appears to have been equipped with an avoidance system or radar, she said.

A preliminary crash report is expected in two to three weeks. The final crash report and probable cause will be completed in 12 to 18 months, Spencer said.

Outpouring From Community

Meanwhile, tributes have been pouring in from those who knew the four people killed in the crash.

“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.”

She added that Polk State is offering support on its campuses, by phone and virtually through the BayCare Student Assistance Program and the Employee Assistance Program.

Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base paid tribute to Crawford and DeFazio on its Facebook page.

Lakeland resident Nolan Kiefer said he's mourning two friends.

"I started working at Sunrise (Aviation) when Faith was training for her private pilot's license nearly four years ago," he said. "She was an absolutely wonderful person all around. She always brightened any room she came in."

The day before the crash, he said she returned from a vacation "and showed us videos of her wiping out while skiing, all with a big grin on her face. She was not afraid to be herself and brought out the best in other people," Kiefer said. "I will miss her deeply."

He said he can't remember ever seeing Mace when he wasn't happy and enthusiastic.

"Zach was a phenomenal person as well. He was caring and kind," Kiefer said. "He’d come in even when he didn’t have a flight scheduled to just hang around, mentor other students, and brighten at least my day. I remember working late one day and closing up. I heard him hosting a study group for one of the maintenance for pilots classes. I decided to sit in on it. He was a natural teacher. He died doing what he loved.

"I lost two friends yesterday and I can not imagine what the families are going through," he said. "My heart goes out to all who were close to these two."

Lake Reopens To Boaters

After closing the lake to all boaters due to the ongoing investigation, Winter Haven police announced that the lake has been reopened to the boating public although boaters may still see investigators on the lake.

On Friday night, the Lake Regions Management District, an independent special taxing district that manages 60 lakes in Polk County and oversee the construction and operation of locks that raise and lower water levels between lakes have reopened the locks on the canal between Lake Hartridge and Lake Conine.