N98ZZ Piper Malibu PA 46-350P down near Lakeland FL . . .

FlightAware Flight Tracker

Dave City, Florida – The Pasco County Sheriff’s Office says three people died Friday night when the Piper Malibu single engine plane they were in, crashed. Officials say the plane went down in a wooded area just north of County Road 54 and west of U.S. Highway 98 near Zephyrhills around 8:20 p.m.

“Looks like it came in… from the north, broke the tree line and came almost nose straight down and landed nose down, upside down,” said Lt. Brett Landsberg of the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

The aircraft was en route Gainsville - Lakeland, crash site is less than a mile from Zephyrhills Municipal Airport, NE of Tampa Florida.

N98ZZ was operated by Citrus Aviation and based at Lakeland.

Looking at the flight tracker with the sectional overlay it looks like they were lining up with runway 22 at Zephyrhills when they went down.