POLK COUNTY, Fla. - One young man died Monday evening after his experimental, single-seater plane broke apart and crashed into a Polk County cow pasture.
Aircraft crash response
What we know:
It began as a fun evening for two young men planning to fly in formation. One pilot took off from Bartow, and the other departed from Lakeland.
At about 7:54 p.m. Monday, authorities received a 911 call reporting that a plane went down.
Firefighters reached the aircraft within five minutes, finding the wreckage in a cow pasture and woods about a mile west of Moore Road.
Experimental aircraft wreck
The backstory:
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference the surviving pilot told investigators that he wrote down the exact location where his partner disappeared.
He reported seeing a piece come off the low-wing aircraft just in time to watch the plane come apart and crash straight into the ground.
The experimental, single-seater plane is known to cruise at 200 mph.
No one identified
What we don't know:
Authorities have not released the identity of the young man who died.
While the second pilot witnessed the plane come apart, investigators have not determined exactly what caused the fatal malfunction.
Federal aviation investigation
What's next:
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration have been notified to help lead the crash investigation, while the Polk County Sheriff's Office will handle the death investigation.
The Source: The information in this story was gathered from Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Fire Rescue.