Three victims of a fatal plane crash off the coast of Florida in the United States have been identified by authorities as a couple and their eldest daughter.
Australian national Christian Kath, 43, had been piloting the plane while his wife Misty Kath,43, and their 12-year-old daughter Lilly, were in the passenger seats.
The couple also have a younger daughter, who was having a sleepover at a friend's house when the plane went down in the Gulf of Mexico, Mail Online reports.
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The family had been living in St Petersburg in Florida after relocating to the US from Australia and Mr Kath had only recently secured his pilot's licence, becoming qualified in July this year.
Local news station ABC7 reported that the family had flown from St Petersburg to Venice, Florida for dinner on Saturday, December 3 and had been on their way back to their local airport when the rented single-engine Piper PA-28 crashed shortly after takeoff.
Before the tragic incident, Mr Kath had posted on his social media about being excited to fly his family for weekends away.
Posting to his Facebook account back in March, he wrote: "I flew solo for the first time today! Felt so proud to finally achieve something I’ve been wanting to do since I was 8 years old. Started my lessons in late December and am about half way though my private pilot license now.
"Thanks for putting up with my early morning lessons and late night studying Misty Kath; it will all feel worth while when we can fly to the Keys for a weekend away with Lily and Harper soon.
"Feel lucky to live and be learning to fly in such a beautiful part of the world!"
Authorities launched a search for the aircraft the next day after the FAA alerted them to a plane that had taken off from Venice airport but had not arrived at its destination.
Misty's body was discovered by boaters in the water around four kilometres west of the Venice shore, while Lilly's body was found in the wreckage of the plane, 9NEWS reports.
US authorities have said that the search for Christian is still ongoing, but he is believed to have also been killed in the crash.
The City of Venice issued an update about the search efforts to their Twitter, writing: "After consultation with the Coast Guard, the search area for the missing pilot in the Gulf has been expanded area-wise, but assets have been scaled back."
They added: "Boaters from Sarasota Bay south to Gasparilla should be aware of the possibility of a body or small aircraft debris floating."
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