Piper Crashes in Lakeland swamp
Pictured: A Piper Malibu
Click to view full size photo at Airliners.net
Contact photographer Paul Aranha
What: Citrus Aviation single-engine Piper Malibu en route from Gainesville to Lakeland
Where: just north of Lakeland, Florida
When: 8:30 p.m. Friday
Who: 3 on board: a newlywed, her 7-year-old daughter and the pilot flying her husband’s company plane
Why: The pilot reported a problem, and diverted to the nearest airport in Zephyrhills but the plane did not make it all the way to the airport. After the pilot lost communication, the plane went down in a swamp, in a fiery crash that killed all 3 on board, pilot Thomas Scott Long, 44, of Hudson, Tina Copeland, 46, and her 7 year old daughter Cami.