2 small planes collide over lake, killing 4

A pilot and a student pilot were among four people killed when two small planes collided in midair over a central Florida lake, sheriff ’s officials said.

A Piper J-3 Cub seaplane and a Cherokee Piper 161 fixed-wing plane collided around 2 p.m. Tuesday over Lake Hartridge near Winter Haven Regional Airport, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said.

Faith Irene Bake, 24, a pilot/ flight instructor with Sunrise Aviation, and Zachary Jean Mace, 19, a student at Polk State College, were aboard the fixed-wing plane, which was operated by Sunrise Aviation in Ormond Beach on behalf of Polk State College, Judd said. Both were from Winter Haven.

Randall Elbert Crawford, 67, of Carlisle, Pa., and Louis C. Defazio, 78, of Fredericksburg, Tex., were aboard the seaplane, which was operated by Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Winter Haven.