WFLA Tampa Pilot Killed In GA Crash

Lester Hathcox

A longtime pilot for WFLA TV has died after the Cessna plane he was in went down in Georgia, the TV station reported Monday.

The Federal Aviation Administration said an alert notice was issued Monday morning after air traffic controllers lost contact with the Cessna 441 aircraft. The plane had taken off Monday morning from Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in Florida on its way to Grady County Airport in Cairo, Georgia.

The wreckage of the plane was located around 4 p.m. in Climax, Georgia, Captain Jones from the Thomas County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Office told News Channel 8.

The station said Decatur County Sheriff Wiley Griffin had confirmed two people were killed in the crash. News Channel 8 said one was the station’s Eagle 8 pilot Lester Hathcox.