Cessna C421 down in the Gulf of Mexico

[kilo delta]

View attachment 63591

Two F-15 pilots Thursday morning discovered that the pilot of a plane flying aimlessly over the Gulf of Mexico was apparently unconscious.Coast Guard aircraft from Alabama and Florida were also responding for a rescue operation.
The twin-engine Cessna 421 (N48DL) was flying from Slidell, Louisiana to Sarasota, Florida.
A FlightAware map showed the plane was over the Gulf of Mexico about halfway to its destination when it began circling uncontrollably.
UPDATE: 12:19 PM ET: The plane may have gone down into the Gulf in the past few minutes, as the last four blips from FlightAware have shown the plane at the same location, about 170 miles west of Sarasota, Fla.

http://www.nycaviation.com/2012/04/unconscious-pilot-at-controls-of-plane-over-gulf-of-mexico/

more here.. http://uk.flightaware.com/live/flight/N48DL

 

[cheezyflier]

so they think it may have been hypoxia? that's a shame, really. i didn't know how common it really is.
this guy got lucky

http://youtu.be/_IqWal_EmBg

 

[srgalahad]

These guys weren't lucky...

25 October 1999; Sunjet Aviation Learjet 35; near Aberdeen, SD:
Both pilots and all four passengers, including professional golfer and 1999 U.S. Open winner Payne Stewart,

http://www.airsafe.com/stewart.htm

Hypoxia wasn't well understood until after WWI when it began to be studied and it was realized that, depending on the individual, the onset can occur at quite low altitudes. Hence the current rules limiting flight above 10,500 for more than 30 minutes and not at all above 13,000 without supplemental oxygen (Various jurisdictions modify the rules slightly). Cabin pressures in pressurized aircraft are normally maintained at 8500' (occasionally less but it's structurally 'expensive to do so) but even so, a lot of people suffer some effects and it's considered one of the factors in 'jet lag'.

A gradually loss of pressure or oxygen supply will have a stealthy effect and may not be noticed until there's no one conscious enough to notice. Seems to be case in the crash of the Greek Airbus a couple of years ago.