Nope. Just the one on board.
Cessna 421 plane crashes after circling over Gulf of Mexico, FAA had lost contact with pilot | wtsp.com
Cessna 421 plane crashes after circling over Gulf of Mexico, FAA had lost contact with pilot
4:55 PM, Apr 19, 2012 | 2 comments
Sarasota
Video: Cessna 421 plane crashes after circling over Gulf of Mexico
A flight tracker shows a plane circling in the Gulf after the pilot apparently became incapacitated. (FlightAware)
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Sarasota, Florida -- The Federal Aviation Administration says a small plane that was flying over the Gulf of Mexico has crashed, hours after all contact with the pilot was lost.
The plane, a twin-engine Cessna 421C, left Slidell, Louisiana Thursday morning with a course set for Sarasota. The FAA lost contact with the plane's pilot shortly before 9 a.m., who was the only person on board.
The FAA tracked the plane on radar, which began circling about 150 miles south of Crestview, Florida. The plane had been flying at about 15,000 feet, but it appears it rose above 30,000 feet after contact with the pilot was lost.
Two F-15 jets from the New Orleans National Guard were already on a mission over the Gulf when they were asked if they could check on the plane.
The jets' pilots reported that the Cessna's windshield was iced over and that the plane was fluctuating between 25,000 and 35,000 feet.
The plane ran out of fuel and crashed at about 12:30 p.m. ET. The U.S. Coast Guard has search-and-rescue aircraft on scene.
Coast Guard Petty Officer Elizabeth Borderland tells the Associated Press the plane landed softly about 120 miles west of Tampa. Planes like the Cessna 421C can glide when it runs out of gas, rather than just dropping out of the sky.
Borderland did not know the condition of the pilot. "The situation is pretty dynamic right now," Boderland said.
The plane reportedly floated rightside up for a time, but it has now begun to sink. The water depth is about 1,500 feet.
CBS affiliate WWL-TV in New Orleans reports the pilot is Dr. Peter Hertzak, a Slidell gynecologist and cosmetic surgeon.
The Cessna is registered to "Lee H. Aviation Inc." in Wilmington, Del.
10 News will have more on this developing story.