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Plane of ex-resident crashes

The identities of the two killed and two injured are unknown.

By JAMAL THALJI
Published December 27, 2006

A single-engine plane belonging to a former Pasco resident crashed Tuesday amid the clouds and rain about 120 miles north of Nashville, leaving two dead and two injured, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported.

The victims have not been identified. But the plane, a Rockwell Commander 114, is registered to Michael Burlingham, the Times Free Press reported.

The 51-year-old is an avid flier who once lived with his wife, Carol, in Hidden Lake, a rural airport community in New Port Richey where they had two planes. They married last year, and Burlingham owns land there, according to property records, but the couple recently moved to Port St. Lucie.

The plane took off from Ottawa Executive Airport in Zeeland, Mich., and flew south for more than 600 miles, the Times Free Press reported. Then it reportedly went down about noon near State Highway 283, about 25 miles from Chattanooga and the Marion County Airport.

Two were found dead at the scene, according to the Times Free Press, and two others were flown to Erlanger Hospital in Chattanooga. Their condition was unknown late Tuesday. An witness told the Times Free Press he spoke to the survivors after the crash.

Burlingham was once vice president of products for national boat retailer Marine Max. An official there said Burlingham had recently moved on to Tiara Yachts, a maker of luxury powerboats based in Holland, Mich.

An aviation buff, Burlingham has lived in airplane communities before, he told the Times last year. When he moved from Michigan to Florida in 2002, Burlingham said, he picked Hidden Lake because it had a quiet, rural feel.

Investigators from the Federal Aviation Administration were on the scene late Tuesday looking into the crash.

Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report. Jamal Thalji can be reached at thalji@sptimes.com or 727 869-6236.

[Last modified December 27, 2006, 06:48:57]