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Subscribe to RSSThe U.S. Coast Guard is trying to recover the pilot after his plane went down after flying in circles for nearly three hours. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
A small plane with an apparently incapacitated pilot that crashed just after noon Eastern Time in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday has sunk, the Associated Press reported, citing Coast Guard officials. Crews flying over the site saw no signs that its pilot survived the crash, the report said.
The twin-engine propeller Cessna 421 went down Thursday about three hours after two F-15 fighter jets tried to make contact with the unresponsive pilot, who was thought to be the only person on the plane.
The pilot was identified as Peter Hertzak of Slidell, La., NBC station WSDU of New Orleans reported.
Coast Guard Chief John Edwards said the plane landed right-side up on the ocean surface and floating, but aircraft monitoring the scene did not see a life raft deploy and never made contact with the pilot, the AP reported.
Air traffic controllers alerted the Coast Guard after they lost radio contact with the pilot about 9 a.m. EDT. The aircraft was circling erratically over the Gulf of Mexico, according to Coast Guard District 8 Chief Petty Officer John Edwards in New Orleans.
Tracker shows plane's erratic flight path
Air Force jets dispatched to look into the plane were unable to see the pilot because of fog and icing that obscured the plane's windows, Coast Guard officials said. The icing is seen as a possible sign that the aircraft lost cabin pressure and the pilot was rendered unconscious.
A search-and-rescue operation has been launched to locate the Cessna. NBC's Pete Williams reports.
The two F-15s from the New Orleans National Guard were already on a mission over the Gulf, according to the AP report, citing a release from Edwards. The Jacksonville Air Traffic Control Center asked the military if jets could check on the plane, which was orbiting near one of Eglin Air Force Base's warning areas over the Gulf, Edwards said. Eglin is on Florida's Panhandle.
A federal official says the plane took off Thursday morning from Slidell, La., en route to Sarasota, Fla.
It flew until just after noon and then crashed into the water 120 miles west of Tampa, Fla., according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Daniel Compton / airport-data.co
The Cessna that went down in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday.
In a search and rescue effort launched in the hours before the plane crashed, the Coast Guard dispatched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Mobile, Ala., an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Clearwater, Fla., and the Coast Guard Cutter Coho, an 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Panama City, Fla., the Coast Guard web site said.
In a previous incident involving a "ghost plane,'' in 1999, the pilot — professional golfer Payne Stewart — and five passengers were incapacitated when their Learjet lost cabin pressure. The plane flew on for four hours before finally crashing in rural South Dakota. All six people were killed.
NBC's Pete Williams and Jay Blackman contributed to this report.
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Most likely hypoxia. Every pilot should familiarize himself with his early hypoxia symptoms. We did yearly in the USAF in the pressure chamber. If the aircraft were on auto pilot then it would have flown a straight path assuming it was on a heading hold, and maintained altitude assuming it had altitude hold engaged. A lot of assumptions, since it didn't maybe the pilot was trying for a lower altitude where the air is friendlier for people and passed out before getting stabilized at a lower altitude. Above 12500' you can get oxygen deprived after 30 minutes, sooner if you smoke. After that muscle tremors and loss of control of muscles then, unconsciousness and death.
As one living on borrowed time with inoperable cancer, I'm increasingly appalled by the amount of mindless insensitive comments posted anytime a story involves a loss of life. In this case a pilot became incapacitated and crashed for reasons unknown at this time and yet people have the audacity to use it as a soapbox for their idiotic political rants and childish attempts at poor humor. Yes this is a forum and yes everyone has freedom of speech but there's a time and place for everything. Try showing a little respect and sympathy for those who lose their lives as well as their families who may read your comments. Enjoy YOUR life while you have it because sooner or later YOUR number will be next.
handed wit to mask their fear of death. Almost like a young boy uses his
silliness to hide his shyness of a pretty girl. Instead of telling her of his
real feelings , he hits her and pulls her hair. Stories of someone dying is too
real for them to cope with . Their mind shuts down and they go into a kind of a
silly combat mode. This is proven by their tentency to regress into beating up on the President or someone that has nothing to do with the story. Forgive them Bill. Someday, like it or not, they will have to face what we all will , our mortality. Then they will know what it means to grow up.
There is speculation that the plane may have lost cabin pressure rendering him unconscious, but this was an airplane not a jet and they usually don't fly at altitudes that requires a pressurized cabin.
nova104
Perhaps a little research on the internet rather than MORE speculation?
Cessna 421
Performance
Maximum speed: 256 knots (475 km/h, 295 mph) at 20,000 ft (6,100 m)
Cruise speed: 240 knots (444 km/h, 276 mph) at 25,000 ft (7,600 m) (75% power)
Range: 1,487 nmi (2,755 km, 1,712 miles)
Service ceiling: 30,200 ft (9,205 m)
Rate of climb: 1,940 ft/min (9.9 m/s)
They were flying at altitudes in WWII with less efficient engines and NO pressurization. Just because it has a propeller doesn't limit it to puddle jumping. Some small twins (propeller) cruise at 39,000 and can reach 41,000 at close to 400 knots (440 mph)
We had an 80 year old woman land a plane a week ago because her husband passed out , and she could not revive him. People get sick and pass out while driving everyday. A lady drove through a grocery store just yesterday. Why is it so strange that a pilot would have the same problem at 30,000 feet. If he is alone, then he is done, end of story. I'm just shocked it don't happen more often. Thank God it did not happen over a crowded city or school in session.