The man killed when a small plane crashed in rural Land O' Lakes on Saturday has been identified as a 48-year-old Swiss citizen.
Andreas Wendel was from Bassarsdorf, Switzerland and was a pilot for the charter airline Edelweiss Air, the Pasco County Sheriff's Office said Sunday. He had no relatives in the United States, but his next-of-kin in Switzerland have been notified.
Wendel was flying a 2004 Cessna 172S single-engine airplane from Pensacola to Tampa when the plane went down in a field about 3 a.m. It clipped trees on the way down, lost part of its tail in a tree and left a debris field that stretched for about a half-mile.
The plane was registered to Stephen Morrissey of Ojai, Calif.
According to Pasco sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll, Wendel received clearance to land at Tampa Executive Airport before suddenly dropping off the radar.
Air Traffic controllers from Tampa International Airport alerted the FAA to the plane disappearing from radar.
"The pilot got confirmation to land at Tampa Executive Airport," Doll said. "Around that time or shortly thereafter, we also got a call about some type of fire being seen in the area. That's when we put two and two together and realized it was a plane crash."
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.