Lufkin Doctor and Wife Killed in Plane Crash
A Lufkin cardiovascular surgeon, his wife, and her sister, died Sunday morning when their private plane crashed just outside McComb, Mississippi.
Dr. Taylor Pickett and his wife Laura Pickett died in the crash, along with Mrs. Pickett's sister Jaqueline Ham.
Reports say the group went to New Orleans Saturday night to watch a friend, who is a musician, perform. They were on their way back to McComb early Sunday morning when the plane went down. Dr. Pickett was flying the plane when it crashed about 4 miles from the McComb-Pike County airport.
The Picketts are survived by four children.
Memorial Medical Center CEO Bryant Krenek says the crash was a tremendous tragedy. He says Dr. Pickett “was really a great guy and it’s just really a tragic thing ... he dedicated himself to his profession and taking of care of people. He was a man with a big heart and a lot of skill.”
In April 2009, Pickett performed the first robotic surgeries on a lung and a heart at Memorial Health System of East Texas.
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