A search is underway after a small training plane vanished over Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain late Monday, leaving family, friends, and classmates fearing the worst.
According to Apollo Flight Training, a Mississippi-based school, the aircraft — a Cessna 172N — was on a routine instructional flight when radar contact suddenly disappeared around 6:23 p.m., roughly 40 minutes after taking off from Gulfport. The plane was about four miles north of New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport when it lost contact with air traffic control.
“They are presumed to have gone into the water,” confirmed Apollo’s owner and chief flight instructor, Mike Carastro, in a somber press briefing Tuesday.
The U.S. Coast Guard quickly deployed rescue crews and a helicopter, which spotted “water discoloration” that evening — a possible clue to the plane’s final moments. Later, Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries officers found debris consistent with a small aircraft, including a seat cushion, floating in the lake.
The intense search resumed Tuesday, with boats and aircraft combing the waters for any trace of the missing instructor and student. “The search is ongoing,” Coast Guard officials said in an update.
Carastro said both individuals on board were deeply dedicated to aviation. The instructor, described as “highly qualified,” was only about 200 hours away from reaching her dream of becoming an airline pilot. Her student, meanwhile, was working toward a commercial and instrument license.
Preliminary reports suggest the crash was not mechanical in nature, though the exact cause remains under investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration.
Authorities have not yet released the names of the victims, pending notification of family.
Source: ABC News
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