Unconcious pilot crashes in gulf of mexico

[dubjager]

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N48DL

Crazy. Really with the recent story of an elderly woman landing her husbands plane after he suffered a heart attack, maybe there should be more regular health checks?

[KrautFed]

Just came here to post this.

FWIW, has not crashed yet (said to run out of fuel at any minute) 3 hours doing circles.

EDIT: Now it looks like the plane ran out of gas around 11:45am EST... and looks like it was in a stall/spin at 11:49. Got all the way down to 40 kts.

the log: http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N.../KSRQ/tracklog

[dubjager]

Yeah, crashed at about 12:10 or so... It was crazy to see the loops in the tracker...

I doubt the result was good for the pilot...

[ATL_Av8r]

http://flightaware.com/live/flight/N48DL

Crazy. Really with the recent story of an elderly woman landing her husbands plane after he suffered a heart attack, maybe there should be more regular health checks?

Health checks aren't going to do you a damn bit of good if your pressurization fails and you don't realize it in time to get on supplemental.

[KrautFed]

This story has reports that are getting interesting...

The Cessna went down at about 12:10 p.m., some 120 miles west of Tampa, Fla., said Petty Officer Elizabeth Boderland with the Coast Guard in New Orleans.

The plane landed softly in the water and was intact, floating right side up, Boderland said. A Coast Guard helicopter was responding and a patrol boat was about 90 miles away. Boderland did not know the condition of the pilot.

"The situation is pretty dynamic right now," Boderland said.

[JCJetta]

Yeah, crashed at about 12:10 or so... It was crazy to see the loops in the tracker...

Sends a shivver down my spine, knowing the probable outcome. Geeshe.

[dubjager]

Reports are saying that the nose of the plane is submerged... Coast Guard ship and heli should be arriving shortly..

I know it won't do a think to do regular checks, wishful thinking I guess..

[KrautFed]

Sorry I didn't report this earlier, but I'm assuming this means loss of cabin pressure: the F-15 pilots reported the windows were fogged/frosted.

And update about 10 mins ago :

PENSACOLA, Florida - The Coast Guard says a small plane has sunk into the Gulf of Mexico and that crews flying over the site saw no signs that its pilot survived the crash.

The pilot was the only person on the Cessna 421C. It went down Thursday about three hours after two F-15 fighter jets tried to make contact with the unresponsive pilot.

Coast Guard Chief John Edwards said the plane landed right-side up on the ocean surface and floating, but monitoring planes did not see a life raft deploy and never made contact with the pilot. The plane has since begun sinking into the Gulf about 120 miles west of Tampa, Fla.

A Coast Guard cutter and rescue helicopter are en route to the crash site.