Female pilot, Navy officer flight student presumed dead after plane plummets into New Orleans lake
A flight instructor and her student—a soon‑to‑be father and a U.S. Navy officer—are believed to have died when their plane plunged into a lake near New Orleans, officials say.
On Monday, 30‑year‑old Taylor Dickey and her student, later identified as 30‑year‑old Navy Lt. David Michael Jahn, took off from Gulfport‑Biloxi International Airport in a Cessna Skyhawk. The Coast Guard reported that the aircraft disappeared from radar at about 6:30 p.m. roughly four miles north of New Orleans Lakefront Airport.
No distress call was made, and it’s still unclear who was in the cockpit when the plane struck Lake Pontchartrain. Flight‑school owner Michael Carastro spoke at a press conference on Tuesday, noting that the instructor was “highly qualified” and the aircraft was well‑maintained. He described the impact as “very, very violent.”
Within an hour after the loss, the Coast Guard and Louisiana wildlife officials spotted discoloration in the water and later recovered a seat cushion and other pieces that likely came from the wreckage. Search operations went on for almost two days before being halted on Wednesday afternoon, according to local reporting.
Both Dickey and Jahn are presumed dead, Carastro said. He added that early data suggests the crash wasn’t caused by mechanical failure, so investigators will determine the exact cause. “It was an unbelievable tragedy,” he told reporters. “I’ve been instructing for 46 years. I’ve never, never, had this. It’s my first. So it’s hitting me pretty hard, as well as the rest of the employees here at Apollo and Million Air, because both individuals were very well‑liked. And so we’re devastated.”
Jahn, a civil‑engineering corps officer with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 in Gulfport, was close to earning his commercial pilot’s license, having needed only a few more flight hours. He was also expecting a child.
The Navy stated that Jahn was a dedicated officer and God‑fearing father, emphasizing that his love for life, exploration, and serving others would live on through his wife and unborn child.
A Change.org petition has been launched to rename the Gulfport‑Biloxi Airport Authority “Taylor Dickey Field,” citing her legacy as a distinguished instructor, aviation leader, and community advocate. The petition highlights her role with the Bayou Beacons, the local Women in Aviation International chapter, and her encouragement of women to pursue flight training.
Additional wreckage was found using sonar, dive teams, and a K‑9 unit, according to the local nonprofit United Cajun Navy. The airport authority has since turned over the recovered items to the appropriate agencies.
The FAA, Coast Guard, and U.S. Navy have not yet provided further comments.
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