Jamie Swiggart USN

UPDATE: Former Darien High Student, Post 53 Member, Killed in Florida Plane Crash

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Updated 12:12 p.m., Monday:

A funeral date has not yet been announced for former Darien resident James H. “Jamie” Swiggart, 31, a victim in the Thursday night crash of an airplane he was piloting in Madison County, Fla. 

A lieutenant in the U.S. Navy with extensive flight experience, Swiggart was with his 18-year-old cousin. The two perished instantly in the crash, Madison County Sheriff Benjamin Stewart said, according to the website of WCTV, a television station in Florida. Swiggart, who had an extensive record as a Navy pilot, was flying his two-seat civilian aircraft, an “experimental” Vans RV-4 plane, with his cousin, Maitland Harvey, WCTV reported. The plane had taken off Thursday afternoon from Ocala International Airport and was headed for Tallahassee International Airport. At 7:30 p.m., the plane was over southwest Madison County (east of Tallahassee) when it lost contact with air traffic control, according to the report. WTXL-TV reported that, according to local authorities, the plane was over nearby Gadsden County when Swiggart notified air traffic controllers that he had low visibility.