The Coast Guard has suspended its search for two people who were on board a small plane that went down over Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans during a training flight.
The crash occurred Monday evening, authorities said. The United States Coast Guard said it was notified of a Cessna aircraft that had lost communications with air traffic control approximately 4 miles north of Lakefront Airport in New Orleans.
An instructor and student were on board the plane, according to the owner of their Mississippi-based flight school.
Radar lost contact with the Cessna 172N at approximately 6:23 p.m. on Monday, nearly 40 minutes after it had departed Gulfport, Mississippi, and there was no further contact, according to Mike Carastro, owner and chief flight instructor for the flight school, Apollo Flight Training.
"They are presumed to go into the water," he said during a press briefing Tuesday afternoon.
The Coast Guard said a helicopter deployed in the search "spotted water discoloration" on Lake Pontchartrain on Monday evening. Several hours later, the Louisiana Department Wildlife and Fisheries "discovered what appears to be debris from a small plane such as a seat cushion," the Coast Guard said.
Crews searched by air and water for approximately 45 hours before the Coast Guard suspended the search on Wednesday.
"Our hearts go out to the families and loved ones impacted by this tragic situation," Cmdr. Michael Wurster, the Coast Guard Sector New Orleans search and rescue mission coordinator, said in a statement. "Suspending a search is one of the most difficult decisions we make, and it is done only after every effort has been made to locate those involved."
The cause of the crash is under investigation. Carastro said preliminary information indicates it was "not mechanical."
Officials have not released the names of the instructor and student.
The instrument instructor and student were on a training flight from Gulfport to New Orleans to do practice approaches at the time of the crash, according to Carastro.
Carastro described the instructor as "highly qualified," and said she was about 200 hours short of meeting the requirements to work as an airline pilot, "which was her ultimate goal."
The student was working on getting a commercial and instrument license, he said.
"We've had an unbelievable tragedy last night," Carastro said.
The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration are the lead investigative agencies for the plane crash, Louisiana authorities said.