ST. BERNARD PARISH, La. — Popular local fisherman and charter captain Theophile Bourgeois was killed in a plane crash in St. Bernard Parish Sunday, U.S. Coast Guard officials confirmed. Two others were injured.
Around 2:55 p.m., a seaplane piloted by Bourgeois with two people on board crashed in the Chandeleur Sound, east of the Mississippi River, in St. Bernard Parish.
Coast Guard rescue crews responded to the crash and recovered all three people via helicopter after locating the wreckage.
One victim, identified by Coast Guard officials as Bourgeois, was pronounced dead.
The others were rushed to University Medical Center in New Orleans, where they were reported to be conscious while undergoing treatment.
The Coast Guard released video of one of the helicopter rescues Sunday night.
Bourgeois, a native of lower Jefferson Parish, was a regular on Don Dubuc's Fish and Game Report for nearly 20 years, as a fishing expert and close friend of Dubuc. The well known captain was the owner of Bourgeois Fishing Charters, a fishing adventure service out of Barataria. He was a licensed pilot.
"He is going to be really missed. He was a great guy. A lot of talent in a lot of ways, a lot of people didn't realize how much talent and how much good business sense he had and how much he had to come back to recover from storms. It was always a long road back. This one -- it doesn't look like he is going to make it back," Dubuc said.
Bourgeois leaves behind a son.
Coast Guard officials identified the plane as a seaplane belonging to Bourgeois Fishing Charters. Rescuers were alerted of the crash after the service informed them they had lost communication with the plane Sunday afternoon, as strong thunderstorms moved through the area.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
This is the second fatal plane crash in the area in three days. On Friday afternoon, a plane crashed south of the New Orleans Lakefront Airport, killing WVUE News anchor Nancy Parker and activist pilot Franklin Augustus.
Stay with WWL-TV and WWLTV.com for more on this developing story