A plastic surgeon, Dr. Lucius Doucet, died after the small plane he was piloting crashed in Tennessee, resulting in the deaths of two other passengers. The incident occurred on Wednesday morning shortly after Doucet took off from Louisiana Regional Airport in his single-engine Beechcraft V35. The plane was en route to Louisville, Kentucky, when it crashed in Williamson County, approximately 45 minutes south of Nashville, just before midday.
Dr. Doucet, 62, was associated with multiple hospitals in Baton Rouge and was a father of three. He received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine and completed a General Surgery Residency at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He later completed a fellowship at the University of California-Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento before returning to Louisiana.
Shortly after the crash, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office initiated a search-and-recovery operation. Sheriff Mark Elrod stated that it quickly became clear it would not be a search-and-rescue operation due to the severity of the crash. The debris field spanned over half a mile, leading investigators to believe the plane broke up mid-air.
The identities of the two other victims have not been disclosed. The crash is being investigated by the FAA, the Sheriff's Office, and the National Transportation Safety Board.