The scene began unfolding on Lake Hartridge near Winter Haven Regional Airport. First responders said the crash happened mid-air.
Investigators with the Polk County Sheriff's Office said one of the planes, a Cherokee Piper 161 fixed wing plane, was being operated by Sunrise Aviation on behalf of Polk State College. The other plane involved was a Piper J-3 Cub sea plane that was operated by Jack Brown's Seaplane Base in Winter Haven. Of the four people found after the plane crash, officials said they were all dead. The sheriff's office said they were the only occupants of both planes, so their search and rescue efforts have turned into a recovery operation.
The sheriff's office has confirmed the identities of three of the four victims in the plane crash. They said 24-year-old Faith Irene Baker, a pilot and instructor with Sunrise Aviation, and 19-year-old Zachary Jean Mace, a Polk State College student, were both in the Cherokee Piper 161 plane. Officials also said 67-year-old Randall Elbert Crawford of Carlisle, Pennsylvania was in the Piper J-3 Cub plane.
The view from SkyFOX showed one plane partially submerged. Steve Lester, the chief of staff for the Polk County Sheriff's Office, said the second plane is 21 feet underwater.