The two airplanes were destroyed at 1454 Eastern time during a mid-air collision over the Everglades. The private pilot in the Piper and the student pilot in the Cessna were fatally injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The Piper was operating on an IFR flight plan. Preliminary review of ATC data reveal both airplanes had operating transponders and altitude encoders, with the Piper operating on a discreet transponder code, and the Cessna operating on the standard VFR 1200 code. Prior to the collision, the Piper was headed eastbound at 2000 feet msl and the Cessna was headed southbound. At 1453:35, the controller advised the Piper pilot of “traffic eleven oclock, two miles, southbound, altitude indicates two thousand two hundred.” The controller was subsequently in communication with two other airplanes, until 1454:30, when he advised the Piper pilot, “that traffics passing left to right two thousand two hundred.” Immediately thereafter, there was an unintelligible transmission on the frequency that was cut off. Data indicated that at the time of the last transmission, the Piper was heading 091 degrees at 2000 feet, and the Cessna was heading 177 degrees at 2200 feet.
