NEW ORLEANS, La. (KPEL-FM) – A young flight instructor and a student are presumed dead after a small plane crashed into Lake Pontchartrain on Monday evening, according to the flight school’s owner.
What Happened: Timeline of the Night Flight
The U.S. Coast Guard began searching for the plane and its occupants on Monday night. Some debris was recovered from the water, which is likely from the missing plane.
Michael Carastro, owner of Apollo Flight Training, said two people were on board the Cessna that took off Monday night from the Million Air terminal at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in Mississippi, and flew to the lakefront to practice approaches.
“The impact was very, very violent, looking at the pictures that I did see,” Carastro said.
Who Was Onboard: Instructor and Student
Carastro confirmed that the victims were one of the company’s flight instructors, a woman, and a male student. He declined to release their names but said both were in their mid-20s. The student was working toward his commercial license and was just shy of the required 250 flight hours.
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Communication was lost around 6:40 pm on Monday. Carastro said the weather was unfavorable, but emphasized that they were flying over water.
Possible Risk Factors: Flying Over Water at Night
“In any flying over water, it presents additional challenges because you don’t have clear horizons,” Carastro said. “You get vertigo, and they call it the death spiral.”…