Plane crashes in midair: Baton Rouge surgeon and two children killed

A Baton Rouge, La., cosmetic surgeon and his two-year-old children, who were planning to graduate from college on Friday, were reportedly killed mid-air when the small plane piloted by their father broke up in mid-air Wednesday.

“It will be very difficult for our class to walk across the stage without you tomorrow, but, I promise you, we won’t take a minute because we know how hard you’ve worked to be here with us.” Jennifer Windham, one of Giselle Doucet’s classmates, lamented on Facebook Thursday.

On Wednesday, the future vet sat in a small single-engine Beechcraft V35 with his brother Jean-Luc Doucet. Their father was Lucius J., a famous cosmetic surgeon in Louisiana. Piloted by Doucet III, the plane reportedly broke up. In the middle of the flight, the “New York Post” reported on Thursday.

Williamson County Sheriff Mark Elrod said at a press conference that the trio, who were flying from Gonzales to Louisville, Kentucky, were flying over Tennessee when the plane exploded in mid-air around noon, leaving a “massive debris field” nearly a kilometer away. .

“It appears that the aircraft actually stopped in mid-air. It soon became clear that this was going to be a search and rescue operation, not a search and rescue operation,” he was quoted as saying.

Aaron McCarter, an investigator for the independent government agency, reportedly raised the possibility that bad weather may have been a factor in the crash, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

“If the weather conditions did not cause the accident, they were a factor in the accident,” he said during a press conference, according to US media.

In social networks, testimonies came one after another to pay tribute to the three victims, while colleagues of the aviation enthusiast “not only [d’]An exceptional surgeon, however [d’]Williamson was a compassionate man who touched the lives of countless people in our community, as evidenced by the Cosmetic Center.

For their part, Giselle and Jean-Luc Doucet were normally scheduled to take the stage Friday to receive their diplomas in veterinary medicine and engineering at Louisiana State University (LSU).

“This is heartbreaking for the LSU community, but especially for those who knew and loved these two students and looked forward to sharing their diplomas with them. We will honor both students during their commencement ceremonies,” the university said in a press release.