Search suspended for missing pilots on Lake Pontchartrain

The search for the bodies of the pilot and student pilot presumed dead after their plane went down Monday night in Lake Pontchartrain has been suspended.

Divers were out for much of the day today along with Coast Guard Search and Rescue crews, along with volunteers with the United Cajun Navy before the call was made to suspend the search.

As we’ve reported this week, the pilots took off from Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport in a Cessna plane owned by Apollo Flight School.

Apollo’s owners say the cause of the crash is still unknown, but based on the debris recovered so far, the crash was so violent that the plane basically disintegrated upon impact.