ZEPHYRHILLS, FL -- A newlywed and her young daughter are believed the be among the three people killed in last night's deadly plane crash.
Investigators tentaively identified the victims as 44-year-old Thomas Long of Hudson, who was piloting the single-engine aircraft, and passengers 46-year-old Tina Copeland and her 7-year-old daughter Cami Copeland.
Both live in Lakeland.
Pasco Sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll said the bodies of the three victims were so badly burned that it make take several days to make a final identification.
Their plane crashed in a remote part of eastern Pasco County around 9 pm Friday, killing all 3 people on-board.
The Pasco County Sheriff's Office says the plane went down in a swampy area near US 98, about 2-3 miles north of County Road 54 in Zephyrhills.
A National Transportation Safety Board investigator was is examining the wreckage today.
Federal Aviation Administration aviation safety inspectors are also on scene gathering information about the crash.
FAA spokesman Kathleen Bergen said Friday the single-engine plane departed Gainesville and was headed to Lakeland. About 20 miles north of Lakeland the pilot declared an emergency, and air traffic controllers redirected him to Zephyrhills, Bergen said.
Air traffic controllers lost total contact with the pilot about 3 miles from Zephyrills.
The plane is a Piper Mailbu aircraft which is registered to Citrus Aviation of Lakeland, according to FAA records. That company is registered to Robert Stallings, the owner and president of Stallings Crop Insurance in Lakeland.
Before the victims were identified a woman who answered the phone at his company said Stallings was not on the plane but two of his relatives were passengers.
Records show that Stallings and Copeland filed for a marriage license in Las Vegas, NV last week, on October 16th.
