Odessa Man Dead in Small Plane Crash

A Friday morning plane crash in Spring Hill has left one person dead.

According to Hernando County officials, the Cessna crashed into the backyard of a home at 13088 Little Farms Drive just before 9 a.m. Gary Cohen, 56, of Odessa has been identified as the pilot killed in the crash.

Before Cohen’s plane came down, he was in contact with the Brooksville-Tampa Bay Regional Airport, the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed. Details of the communication are not yet being released.

The sheriff’s office said Cohen took off from Odessa and was headed to Orlando when his Cessna 206 amphibian came down. While nearby homes were evacuated due to a fuel leak after the crash, no injuries on the ground were reported.

The Federal Aviation Authority has taken over the investigation. It remains unclear why Cohen’s plane crashed.

No further details are available at this time.

Photo courtesy of the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office