As Lake Pontchartrain search finds human remains, families plan pilot memorials
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Authorities recovered possible human remains from Lake Pontchartrain after fuselage found.
- NTSB and FAA launched investigations after the Nov. 24 Cessna lost contact.
- Families plan memorials and services for the two pilots, with fundraiser active.
The Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office has sent off for testing a body part found in Lake Pontchartrain that could be connected to the crash of a single-engine Cessna with two pilots aboard who were flying from Gulfport to New Orleans.
The discovery was reported Friday by WDSU-TV in New Orleans. The United Cajun Navy found the Cessna’s fuselage on Saturday. A salvage company hired by the plane’s insurer was working to bring up the wreckage, but has been hampered by stormy weather.
The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the crash. while the families of the pilots are planning memorial services.
Flight instructor Taylor Dickey and private pilot David Michael Jahn, who was training on instruments, took off the evening of Nov. 24 in the Cessna from the Million Air terminal at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport. The Lakefront Airport in New Orleans lost contact with the plane when it was about four miles north of the airport.
Memorials planned for South MS pilots
Both the 30-year-olds will be memorialized at upcoming services. Both pilots had strong Christian faith.
Peggy Dickey announced on Facebook a celebration of life for her daughter scheduled for noon Tuesday at Mosaic Church in Ocean Springs, where Taylor Dickey worshiped after moving to Biloxi in 2024. Friends and family will be gathering at 11 a.m. at the church. The celebration will be followed by a party for Taylor, her mother’s Facebook post said.
Taylor moved to Biloxi when she went to work in June 2024 as a contract employee at Apollo Flight Training & Aircraft Management.
David Michael Jahn was an expectant father and Navy lieutenant most recently stationed with Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1 at the Gulfport Seabee base. He immediately deployed from the base to Rota, Spain, where he served as the Rota Construction Co. commander until March 2025, his obituary says.
He and his wife, pediatrician Taylor Jahn, were living in Gulfport. A family member has established a GoFundMe account for the pregnant widow.
Jahn’s service will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 13, at St. Peter’s by-the-Sea Episcopal Church in Gulfport, with visitation beginning at 10 a.m. An additional service will be held Dec. 27 in Gurnee, Illinois.
