Trooper John C. Hagerty

John C. Hagerty

Trooper John Hagerty was killed when the traffic plane he was piloting was struck by a low-flying U.S. Navy plane over Lakeland.

He was monitoring traffic on I-4, flying at an altitude of approximately 1,000 feet, when two Navy A7B Corsair bombers entered the airspace near him. One of the jets collided with his plane, slicing it in two. The wreckage of his plane landed on I-4, approximately four miles north of Lakeland.

Trooper Hagerty and other troopers had previously reported Navy aircraft buzzing the traffic control planes and vehicles on the highway.

Trooper Hagerty had served with the Florida Highway Patrol for 13 years.