U.S. Military fighters trailing unresp. aircraft in Atlantic... UPDATE: Plane crashed near Jamaica

(CNN) -- The U.S. military Thursday launched a pair of jet fighters to trail a small aircraft that was unresponsive over the Atlantic Ocean and headed towards Cuban airspace, NORAD said.

Two F-15s were flying with the plane east of Florida. The windows, according to a NORAD spokesman, were frosted and it was unknown how much fuel was left.

NORAD was in touch with Cuban authorities via the U.S. Coast Guard. The U.S. military jets will not enter Cuban airspace, a NORAD spokesman said.

U.S. Military fighters are trailing an unresponsive aircraft in Atlantic Ocean, heading towards Cuba


Just got this breaking news alert. Will update it as more information comes in.

For those who fly frequently, is it normal for an aircraft to have frosted windows during flight? If not, this could indicate an oxygen problem on board, I would guess.



Other sources:

www.timesunion.com...

www.nydailynews.com...



UPDATE: The plane has crashed in the waters off of Jamaica.

www.cnn.com...

a reply to: _BoneZ_

As memory serves ... same situation described as that of Payne Stewart's fateful flight.

For those who fly frequently, is it normal for an aircraft to have frosted windows during flight? If not, this could indicate an oxygen problem on board, I would guess.

Not normal and probably can be viewed as an indication that the cabin lost pressure.
If that is the case, the pilot and any passengers are most likely dead, at least comatose.

originally posted by: Snarl
a reply to: _BoneZ_

As memory serves ... same situation described as that of Payne Stewart's fateful flight.

I was just trying to remember what that golfers name was!
Thanks.

The article says Thursday, but the update is today??? Is this happening now???
I just turned on CNN, nvmd. TY for posting OP...

a reply to: _BoneZ_

Outflow valve failed and it's depressurized. Everyone on board is most likely unconscious or dead by now. That's the only way you get an unresponsive aircraft with frosted windows.

So this happened yesterday? Surely there must be some updates on this.

Over Cuba now being followed by Cuban jet. Over populated area of Cuba.

According to cnn, it is happening now....not good.

WOW, I guess the jet would just continue flying, until it ran out of jet fuel if everyones dead. This will be interesting to see what happens

Range I found listed for that aircraft is a little over 1800 miles. Once it has cleared Cuba, I would hope that there isn't much chance of it hitting any populated areas when it inevitably crashes.

"were frosted and it was unknown how much fuel was left. "

Same as the plot from the movie "7500"

News report at the end: No response, no cabin pressure, windows frosted, running out fuel and will dump into the ocean.

hmmmm

Peace

According to cnn, it is running out of fuel, it is over a populated area in Cuba, they think it should be resolved shortly, either shooting down or crashing.....pilot has had no contact in 3+ hours....

Link to the plane on flightradar24.

www.flightradar24.com...

a reply to: _BoneZ_

For those interested, here is what the aircraft model in particular looks like:



And here's an interior pic of that type of plane's cabin:



Let's hope there's a non-nefarious reason for this plane's radio silence and frosted windows.

Prayers for all on board. It seems to me that lost cabin pressurization, and that their auto-pilot took them on past Florida to Cuba.

This type of plane, the SOCATA TBM-700, has a range of 2,935 km (1,585 nm, 1,824 mi), according to it's wikipedia page.

originally posted by: sheepslayer247
So this happened yesterday? Surely there must be some updates on this.

That may have been a typo on CNN's part. It's happening this moment.

Also, one of the sources say that even though the pilot may be unconscious, the fighters will see the plane to it's destination? How is that possible? Remotely? Or is that a typo as well? Or are they meaning see the plane until it crashes.

originally posted by: sheepslayer247
So this happened yesterday? Surely there must be some updates on this.

Nope. Happening now. It's been flying for more than 2 hours without any communication. The latest was that the F-15's broke off when it hit Cuban airspace and a Cuban jet is tracking it.

It's apparently not being treated as a threat as it wasn't shot down by the Cubans yet. There's no information I've seen about how many people are on the plane. Sounds like the tentative assessment is that the pilot is incapacitated (maybe a medical incident like a heart attack?).

N900KN is registered to New 51G LLC out of New York.

Removed, the pictures in the post above didn't appear for some reason my first time through.

a reply to: _BoneZ_

It's destination in this case is wherever it crashes. Fighters will follow it until impact.