Plane found, 2 still missing after crash in New Orleans lake

NEW ORLEANS – Divers found the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into the huge, mud-bottomed lake that forms New Orleans’ northern shore, but two men remained missing Sunday, the New Orleans Fire Department said.

There should be more information about them on Monday, when the plane will be pulled back out of Lake Pontchartrain, said Capt. Edwin Holmes, a department spokesman.

He said retrieval will begin early Monday morning.

Holmes said a professional diver helped find the wreckage Sunday afternoon. It was about 1,000 feet west of the runway the Cessna was heading for when it crashed during a training exercise around 9 p.m. Friday, he said.

Holmes said he did not know who was being trained, or what sort of exercise was being performed.

A private boat rescued a woman Friday. Her condition was not available Sunday.

The Cessna aircraft was heading to Lakefront Airport, about 10 miles from downtown.

Lake Pontchartrain is a roughly triangular tidal basin about 40 miles east to west, and 24 miles across at its widest north-south point, and covering about 630 square miles. Though extensive it is shallow, averaging 10 to 15 feet deep.