Small plane left US airspace and flew over CubaPilot had been unresponsive; hypoxia suspectedNorad launched two F-15 jets to track planeFlight N900KN took off from Rochester, New YorkFlight plan filed for Naples, FloridaPlane registered to real estate developer, local report says 2.45pm ET CNN has broadcast an audio clip in which one of the fighter jet pilots tracking the plane says the plane pilot was slumped over but his chest was visibly rising and falling. 2.43pm ET The plane has disappeared near Jamaica from the Flight Aware tracker and Flight Radar tracker:#N900KN is gone just north of Jamaica. Last signal was picked up at 25000 feet. We have to wait for more information. pic.twitter.com/sTgldt9W32 2.34pm ET The missing flight, #N900KN, has been identified by Norad as a Socata TBM-700, a small, single-propeller plane that typically seats 7. Heres a roundup of images of the craft. 2.28pm ET US state department spokeswoman Marie Harf says Washington has been in touch with the two countries the unresponsive plane flew over after leaving the US the Bahamas and Cuba.Harf said that the situation generally presents security concerns but she did not allude to any particular concerns in this specific case. 2.25pm ET A local news website in Rochester, New York, the Democrat and Chronicle, says the unresponsive plane is believed to be registered to a Rochester real estate developer:A small plane believed to be registered to Rochester developer Larry Glazer is flying over the Atlantic Ocean and is unresponsive. [...]Attempts to reach Glazer, who has development projects in Naples, on his cellphone were unsuccessful. A voicemail left on his phone was not immediately returned.Larry spends some of his spare time on the ground gardening around his house with his wife, Jane; and some in the sky flying his plane. Larry serves as President of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association. 2.20pm ET After Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared in March, reports focused on other planes that had become ghost flights craft still airborne with no conscious pilot. A New York Magazine roundup listed these five ghost flights:Helios Airways Flight 522 (2005, Greece, 121 dead)Golfer Payne Stewarts Learjet (1999, 6 dead, crashed in 1999 in South Dakota after taking off from Florida)Human error was the root of this terrifying 2005 ghost flight that crashed outside of Athens and killed all 121 people onboard. The problem with this 737 began when ground crew set the planes pressurization system to manual to check a reported leak. The system was never switched back to auto. Investigations after the crash showed that the flight crew had several opportunities to notice and correct the setting, but they never did. Instead, pressure started dropping 13 minutes into the Cyprus-to-Prague flight. Alarms sounded onboard but the pilots, beginning to feel the effects of hypoxia, misinterpreted them. Even after oxygen masks dropped to passengers, the plane continued its climb. Unresponsive to radio communication, the jet flew into Greek airspace, where two F-16s intercepted it. The pilots saw a grim scene. The 737s pilots were slumped over their controls and passengers were wearing oxygen masks. 2.09pm ET NYC Aviation and other sites devoted to aviation report that the plane had requested to descend:BREAKING: Before becoming unresponsive aircraft was at 28k ft, requested to descend due to "indication that was not correct on aircraft."The pilot of a plane (#N900KN) is slumped over the control, unresponsive, fighter pilots say. Currently flying over Cuba. 2.03pm ET Norad suspects the pilot of the unresponsive airplane is unconscious due to hypoxia, a lack of oxygen, Norad spokeswoman Jennifer Stabnyck, a Canadian Army captain, tells Guardian US national security editor Spencer Ackerman (@attackerman). We suspect hypoxia, Stabnyck said. 1.54pm ET The Flight Aware web site charts the course of flight N900KN out of Rochester. The plane is over Cuba. 1.51pm ET Two F15 fighter jets were launched from a US base on Friday to investigate an unresponsive aircraft flying over the Atlantic Ocean.Occupants of a small, single-propeller plane, a Socata TBM-700, did not respond to attempts to communicate, according to Norad, the North American air defense authority, which directed the fighter jet response. The unresponsive plane had taken off from Rochester, New York, and filed a flight plan to Naples, Florida, Norad said. It was last tracked over Cuba. Continue reading...
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