NEW ORLEANS — 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. The Coast Guard said debris recovered from the water that night is likely from the missing plane. Search and recovery crews had been working to locate the victims.

According to the Coast Guard, the plane departed from the Million Air terminal at Gulfport–Biloxi International Airport in Mississippi and lost radio contact shortly after 6:30 p.m., about four miles north of New Orleans’ Lakefront Airport.

About an hour later, a Coast Guard crew spotted discoloration in the water, and Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries personnel recovered a seat cushion and other debris believed to be from the aircraft. Michael Car

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