Airplane Crash takes a friend
 

On Monday of this week a twin engine fixed wing aircraft left the Lakeland Linder Airport enroute Cairo, Georgia. The owner/pilot was a Tampa attorney, Gary Odom; the co-pilot was a retired Hillsborough County (Tampa) Sheriff's Office Deputy Sheriff, Lester Hathcox. About an hour after departure the airplane disappeared from the FAA radar, and subsequently the crashed airplane was found in Georgia. There were no survivors.

Lester was a pilot serving in the HCSO Aviation Unit for eighteen years after initially performing more routine law enforcement duties. He was a senior helicopter pilot and a qualified flight instructor. He was highly respected and well liked by his associates, me among them. In retirement he continued in flying, piloting the Channel 8 TV news helicopter in Tampa, and flying for others, including the Tampa attorney.

While still flying for the Sheriff's Office, Lester was in a helicopter which lost power and crashed in a mangrove swamp on the edge of Tampa Bay. His injuries were minor.

After retiring, Lester often came by the Aviation Unit Hangar at Tampa Executive airport to visit and maintain old friendships. He will be sorely missed by all of us.

Sorry for your loss, Carl.

Sorry for the loss of your friend.

Very sorry for your loss, and my prayers will include both families.

Please accept our heartfelt condolences, Carl. To have been so esteemed by one such as you, he must have been one heck of a good, decent human being. May he rest in peace.

Thoughts and prayers for their families and friends. RIP.

My condolences, Carl. Prayers for peace and comfort offered for their families and friends.

There but for the grace of God go I; in a C172 crash during landing back in 1985. So sorry for the loss of your friend.

I have lost several good friends to aircraft crashes. I know your feeling of loss and will pray for their families and friends. As a pilot, I would also say as kcrazorbackfan stated “There but for the grace of God go I”

So sorry, Carl. Their families are in my prayers.

God help all who knew him..

Carl you describe a man who had a fulfilling and interesting life devoted to serving others.

Personal Best Regards: