Hypoxia case

[A0283]

Not a commercial turbojet, but Helios comes to mind.

Jan 4th, 2018 US Coast Guard searching for missing aircraft

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard is responding to an aircraft emergency in the Gulf of Mexico approximately 118 nm north of the Yucatan Peninsula, Thursday.

Watchstanders at the Eighth Coast Guard District command center in New Orleans received a report from the North American Aerospace Defense Command, Wednesday evening that one person aboard a privately owned Cirrus was unresponsive likely due to hypoxia. The pilot was leaving from Oklahoma City and was headed to Georgetown, Texas. Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans launched aircraft to investigate and reported the pilot was slouched over and appeared unconscious.

The Eight Coast Guard District command Center has been coordinating with SEMAR, the Mexican Navy. District Eight watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew, a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater HC-130 Hercules aircrew and a Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew to search for the aircraft.

[Intrance]

So... Aircraft is missing but pilot was reported slouched over and appearing unconscious? So visual contact was made? But still missing afterwards? Timeline a bit unclear from that snippet.

[core_dump]

NORAD launched two F-16 fighters from Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base in Houston, which made visual contact with the Cirrus. As their fuel ran low, the F-16's had to head home and a pair of F-15s were launched from Louisiana to replace the F-16s some time during all that. The F-15s never reacquired the Cirrus.

[DaveReidUK]

The Cirrus was reportedly cruising at 15,000 feet. My money wouldn't necessarily be on hypoxia.

[zondaracer]

It was cruising at FL190.

[MarkerInbound]

From one of the news stories -

The plane was last observed on radar 219 miles (352 km) northwest of Cancun, Mexico, flying at 15,000 feet (4,600 meters), said Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) spokesman Lynn Lunsford.

FlightAware says he was filed for 190 but it looks like he never made it that high.

[zondaracer]

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N325JK/history/20180103/1940Z/KPWA/KGTU/tracklog

FlightAware shows that he reached 190 at 3:34PM and stayed there for 3.5 hours.

[HEMS driver]

https://www.pprune.org/north-america/603829-okc.html

[MarkerInbound]

https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N325JK/history/20180103/1940Z/KPWA/KGTU/tracklog

FlightAware shows that he reached 190 at 3:34PM and stayed there for 3.5 hours.

Touche.

Ups the hypoxia odds.

[2016parks]

Per news reports, the search is over; the Coast Guard has stopped looking. The pilot (Bill Kinsinger) was an Oklahoma physician who, in his spare time, flew his own plane to pick up rescue dogs and take them to their new homes. This flight was one of his rescue operations.