Developing Story: Plane With Unconscious Pilot Is Circling Out of Control Off the Gulf Coast
29 replies, posted
Source: [url]http://gizmodo.com/5903438[/url]
Another source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/us/gulf-aircraft-search/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
[quote]
The U.S. Coast Guard and Air Force jets are monitoring a small plane with an unresponsive pilot over the Gulf of Mexico, the services reported Thursday. A Federal Aviation Administration source told CNN the twin-engine Cessna 421 has been circling at 28,000 feet, roughly 150 miles south of Crestview, Florida. The plane took off from Slidell, Louisiana, en route to Sarasota, Florida, with a single pilot on board, the source said.
If fully fueled, the plane would be likely to run out of fuel by 12:30 p.m., the source said.
Mike Maddox, a manager at the Slidell airfield where the plane took off, confirmed there was a situation with a plane and said family members had been notified, but had no further comment.
The Air Force noticed the plane flying erratically over the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday morning and dispatched planes to check it out, said Chief Petty Officer John Edwards, a Coast Guard spokesman. They found the Cessna's windows were either iced or fogged over, and the pilot was not responding to radio calls, Edwards said.
Fighter jets from the North American Aerospace Defense Command intercepted the aircraft Thursday morning and are watching the plane from the air, NORAD spokeswoman Stacey Knott said.
The Coast Guard warned ships in the area to keep a lookout for the plane. Edwards said a Coast Guard plane from Mobile, Alabama, was dispatched to assist with a possible rescue, and the Florida-based cutter Coho is en route to the area. A helicopter in Clearwater, Florida, was also standing by to assist, he said.
[/quote]
Fuck this must be scary to be on that plane and know nothing can be done. The article says it's going to crash in like ten minutes... Fucking day is ruined now.
The plane is down now :smith:
At least there were no passengers.
[QUOTE=faze;35636042]Source: [url]http://gizmodo.com/5903438[/url]
Another source: [url]http://www.cnn.com/2012/04/19/us/gulf-aircraft-search/index.html?hpt=hp_t2[/url]
Fuck this must be scary to be on that plane and know nothing can be done. The article says it's going to crash in like ten minutes... Fucking day is ruined now.[/QUOTE]
but the only person on it was unconscious
This is a really weird situation.
No passengers, windows fogged over, with the pilot unconscious.
someone call stephen king
If the pilot was old then a stroke or such could be the explanation.
Edit: This title is probably going to attract alot of attention to something that's not really so dramatic, save for the plane crash part.
[QUOTE=DemonDog;35636130]This is a really weird situation.
No passengers, windows fogged over, with the pilot unconscious.
someone call stephen king[/QUOTE]
That just means that it lost cabin pressure I believe. That's probably why the pilot passed out.
I hope the pilot is okay. This will probably be on the news somewhere or something.
[QUOTE=Jurikuer;35636221]I hope the pilot is okay. This will probably be on the news somewhere or something.[/QUOTE]
The pilot is dead. [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncontrolled_decompression[/url]
[QUOTE=Jurikuer;35636221]I hope the pilot is okay. This will probably be on the news somewhere or something.[/QUOTE]
probably not, if he's not already dead, then when he crashes if the impact doesn't immediately kill him the drowning will.
That sucks.
At least he wasn't awake as he spiralled out of control into the ground/sea.
If the windows were fogged/iced over, he was dead before the jets even got there. His cabin depressurized and he passed out and froze to death/suffocated.
Windows are iced and the plane is at 28k feet and has been for hours. The pilot is likely dead and the chance of recovery prior to crashing is zero. You don't regain consciousness at 28k feet.
Similar incident in 1999: [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_South_Dakota_Learjet_crash[/url]
Cabin probably lost pressure then hypoxia set in. Huge shame
[QUOTE=Jurikuer;35636221]I hope the pilot is okay. This will probably be on the news somewhere or something.[/QUOTE]
It's been all over the news here for the past half hour or so, but that could be because I'm right next to the gulf.
Poor guy :(
Out of interest, could this happen on a commercial plane? I'm presuming not.
Depressurization i mean.
[QUOTE=Occlusion;35637203]Out of interest, could this happen on a commercial plane? I'm presuming not.
Depressurization i mean.[/QUOTE]
Its happened multiple times in the past but there are safety measures in place to make sure the plane gets below 10k feet were its safe. But there was an occasion were everyone on an 737 (large commercial jet) passed out and the plane was essentially a ghost plane and crashed into ground later.
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC0aAY6oIjM[/media] aircraft investigation did an episode about it
This may be completely wrong but wouldnt' lack of oxygen at that height simply cause him to become cold, sleepy, and probably a hit high until he just passed out? I mean, it's a sad thing he died but that's not a bad way to go if you're gonna.
[QUOTE=JeffAndersen;35637347]This may be completely wrong but wouldnt' lack of oxygen at that height simply cause him to become cold, sleepy, and probably a hit high until he just passed out? I mean, it's a sad thing he died but that's not a bad way to go if you're gonna.[/QUOTE]
He would roughly have two to three minutes at that altitude before becoming functionally useless and an indeterminate amount of time until he passed out completely.
So yeah, probably not the worst way to go.
[QUOTE=JeffAndersen;35637347]This may be completely wrong but wouldnt' lack of oxygen at that height simply cause him to become cold, sleepy, and probably a hit high until he just passed out? I mean, it's a sad thing he died but that's not a bad way to go if you're gonna.[/QUOTE]
Probably scary as shit realizing your falling asleep though and there's nothing you can do about it. But yeah it could be worse.
Sounds similar to something out of the Twilight Zone.
Sad, really is. At least he died peacefully i guess, he passed out and didn't have to go though the horror of crashing or drowning.
Why didn't he use one of those yellow oxygen masks?
I'm sure all airplanes have those
[QUOTE=meppers;35639675]Why didn't he use one of those yellow oxygen masks?
I'm sure all airplanes have those[/QUOTE]
One of those masks won't stop you from freezing at that height.
[QUOTE=Overv;35639920]One of those masks won't stop you from freezing at that height.[/QUOTE]
No, but you freeze much slower than you pass out at that altitude. Gravity is useful in terms of making a rapid descent to an altitude that won't kill you.
EDIT: Note that I doubt a 421 has O2 masks unless they are aftermarket.
[QUOTE=GunFox;35639948]No, but you freeze much slower than you pass out at that altitude. Gravity is useful in terms of making a rapid descent to an altitude that won't kill you.[/QUOTE]
Aren't rapid pressure changes just as bad for you though?
[QUOTE=Occlusion;35637203]Out of interest, could this happen on a commercial plane? I'm presuming not.
Depressurization i mean.[/QUOTE]
Like Saxon said, the plane was the Helios Airways Flight 522 which you can watch the video or read the article
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522[/url]
Fact: One person in the cabin managed to wake up who was one of the staff on board, he walked to the door, entered the security code, pushed the bodies out the way and tried taking control of the plane. When jets arrived they thought he was a threat but he tried communicating by waving. As he tried to get it to an airport he was unlucky and it crashed in the ground killing everyone board, even though most of them were dead before the crash..
Still terrible.
[QUOTE=Mr. Someguy;35640875]Aren't rapid pressure changes just as bad for you though?[/QUOTE]
only really underwater
also usually high to low pressure is the problem; the nitrogen in your blood will expand rapidly.
low to high pressure will only really hurt your ears
[QUOTE=fruxodaily;35640982]Like Saxon said, the plane was the Helios Airways Flight 522 which you can watch the video or read the article
[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522[/url]
Fact: One person in the cabin managed to wake up who was one of the staff on board, he walked to the door, entered the security code, pushed the bodies out the way and tried taking control of the plane. When jets arrived they thought he was a threat but he tried communicating by waving. As he tried to get it to an airport he was unlucky and it crashed in the ground killing everyone board, even though most of them were dead before the crash..
Still terrible.[/QUOTE]
There was nothing he could do to save the plane anyways as it ran out of fuel. He tried to radio for help but it was tuned to the airport the plane took off from, and then even put a mask on the co pilot to attempt to revive him. The guy wanted to become a airline pilot and he had flight experience but on smaller aircraft. So the plane ran out of gas and he glided it down.
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