LAKE PLACID — A pilot and passenger died after a fixed wing, single engine Piper Cub airplane crashed near Placid Lakes Airport at about 12:15 p.m., Friday said Capt. Paul Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. There were no other passengers in the single plane accident. Word spread like wildfire around the Caladium Capital of the World that citrus grover owner Mason Smoak piloted the plane. Blackman positively identified Smoak as the pilot, and David Maehr's name was release later as the other victim in the crash. He was a scientist at Archbold Biological Center specializing in bear research. ...more

June 20, 2008

LAKE PLACID – A pilot and passenger are dead after a fixed-wing, single-engine Piper airplane crashed near Placid Lakes Airport at about 1:15 p.m. today, said Capt. Paul Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff's Office. ...more

June 20, 2008