SR22 down off the coast.

I heard a Cirrus go down in similar fashion in West Virginia a few years ago.

Pretty much knew what was going to happen for 30+ minutes...I think that made it tougher when it actually did happen, for some reason.

RIP, and my prayers/thoughts to the family...

edit: And also with you guys that had to hear that happen.
 
Just from the description would have to guess he had a heart attack or some other form of incapacitation well prior to the impact.
 
Sad. Could just be a simple case of hypoxia. Could have been worse. Result is the same.
 
This is almost identical to the Payne Stewart crash.

There's been a few high-profile accidents similar to this one as well as to Stewart's.

On the night of 10 January 1980 a Cessna 441 Conquest with one pilot onboard and legendary Louisana State football coach Bo Rein as a passenger, deviated off course during a flight from Shreveport, Louisana to Baton Rouge, a 40 minute flight. With no response to ATC, and climbing east up to altitudes of FL 400, chase aircraft were scrambled to intercept the Cessna. Two Michigan Air National Guard F-4C Phantoms from Seymour-Johnson AFB and two USAF 48th Fighter Interceptor Squadron F-106 Delta Dart interceptors from Langley AFB were dispatched to intercept the Cessna. They reported no external damage to the twin Cessna, and only a red glow from the instrument panel, with no crew present in the cockpit. The Conquest eventually ran out of fuel, and descended into the Atlantic Ocean, 100 miles east of Langley, Virginia; both onboard presumably killed.

On 16 December 1988, a Learjet 24B with two crew onboard, including NASA astronaut candidate Susan Reynolds, failed to communicate with ATC shortly after takeoff from Memphis, TN and bypassed it's destination of Addison, TX by 425 miles, eventually crashing near the town of Cuatro Ciengas, Mexico after running out of fuel, killing both onboard. A USAF T-38 from the 560th Flying Training Squadron at Randolph AFB, TX sent up to intercept the Learjet, reported frosted-over windscreens, an indication of cockpit depressurization onboard, and no response from the crew, which he also couldn't see.
 
There's also the legendary save by ATC on I believe it was a Kallita (sp?) Lear several years ago... limited wifi where I am, but you can do a search on this site for it.
 
Here you go, KFS 66:



Any feedback from the pilots when they heard that tape?

As an ATC'er I had a pilot like that once. I told him to check his o2 and that backfired on me, he went into denial. Like the way the controller gave them direction without telling the pilot what ATC suspected.
 
In my ATC career I've had one suspected case of alcohol impairment in the cockpit, as the altitude of the aircraft wasn't high enough to explain the bizarre replies and slurred speech I was receiving. We had the airport branch of the local PD meet the aircraft at the FBO. Can't recall the outcome, but I was glad he got on the ground in one piece.
 
How many non-military folks go through altitude chamber training?

I've always found it strange how the high-altitude endorsement doesn't actually require a chamber ride...
 
How many non-military folks go through altitude chamber training?

I've always found it strange how the high-altitude endorsement doesn't actually require a chamber ride...
There is much more to the FAA course. It focuses on the physical and mental issues and stresses of flight and it is geared for civilian pilots and includes for instance, spatial orientation. It even goes into how a pilot may be affected by fatigue, alcohol, medications/drugs, improper diet, stress, dehydration, physical condition, etc. And for small plane operators, it even goes into survival techniques and what you should or should not do if you survive a crash, or have to set down in the middle of no where, what sort of emergency gear/equipment you should carry in your plane, etc.
 
There is much more to the course. It focuses on the physical and mental issues and stresses of flight and it is geared for civilian pilots and includes for instance, spatial orientation. It even goes into how a pilot may be affected by fatigue, alcohol, medications/drugs, improper diet, stress, dehydration, physical condition, etc

All important stuff. I can recall dietary, fatigue, sleep, and alcohol/tobacco discussions in both altitude chamber and centrifuge training days. Now how much those lessons stuck is a different matter...

I'm more amazed that civilian pilots can go fly pressurized aircraft or aircraft with oxygen systems without ever seeing their personal reactions to hypoxia.
 
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