A Baton Rouge, Louisiana, plastic surgeon and his two adult children, who were scheduled to graduate from college on Friday, were reportedly killed mid-flight when the small plane piloted by their father crashed in the air on Wednesday.
“Walking across the stage tomorrow without you will be very difficult for our class, but I promise you that we won't take a single moment for granted, because we all know how hard you worked to get here with us.” Jennifer Windham, one of Giselle Doucet's colleagues, expressed her regret on Facebook on Thursday.
On Wednesday, the future veterinarian was sitting next to her brother Jean-Luc Doucet in a small single-engine Beechcraft V35 plane flown by their father, Lucius J. Doucet III, a well-known Louisiana plastic surgeon, when the plane crashed. Midway through the flight, the New York Post reported Thursday.
The three, who flew from Gonzales to Louisville, Kentucky, were flying over Tennessee when the plane exploded in the air around midday, leaving a “fairly large debris field” about a kilometer away, Williamson County Sheriff Mark Elrod said at a news conference. .
“It appears that the flight actually stopped in midair. It quickly became clear that this was going to be a search and recovery operation, not a search and rescue operation.”
According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), bad weather may have been a factor in the crash, said Aaron McCarter, an investigator for the independent government agency.
He said during a press conference, according to what was reported by American media: “If the weather conditions were not the cause of the accident, then they were a factor in the accident.”
Testimonies continued on social media to pay tribute to the three victims, while the aviation lover’s colleagues praised “not only [d’]An exceptional surgeon, but also [d’]A compassionate man who touched the lives of countless people in our community,” Williamson Beauty Center testified.
For their part, Giselle and Jean-Luc Doucet were normally scheduled to take the stage Friday to receive their degrees from Louisiana State University (LSU), in veterinary medicine and engineering, respectively.
“This is heartbreaking for the LSU community, but especially for those who knew and loved these two students, and those with whom they expected to share their diplomas. We will honor both students during their respective commencement celebrations,” the university said in a news release.
