Coast Guard searching for SR22 in Gulf of Mexico

A Cirrus SR22, registration N325JK, belonging to Abide Aviation has gone missing over the Gulf of Mexico. The aircraft departed from the Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City, heading for Georgetown, Texas. The flight path shows them coming South, over Texas, before turning Southeast, before getting anywhere near Georgetown, and flying out over the Gulf. According to FlightRadar24 the aircraft never came below almost 19,000 feet before the speed began dropping, and the aircraft disappeared. The pilot was unresponsive after veering off course. The plane was heading to Texas as part of an animal rescue mission.

BETHANY, Okla. —
The Coast Guard is searching for a plane that took off from Wiley Post Airport in Bethany, officials confirmed.

Crews are searching for a plane with the tail number N325JK, but have not found anything yet. Online records show that the plane took off shortly before 2:20 p.m. Wednesday from Wiley Port Airport and was expected to arrive at 6:12 p.m. at Georgetown Municipal Airport near Austin, Texas.

The plane veered from its flight path near Waco, Texas.

www.koco.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Sounds like decompression and loss of O2?

a reply to: spirit_horse

Yep. Once he turned towards the gulf, he flew a more or less straight line, same altitude, same airspeed, until he suddenly started slowing and dropping. That's almost textbook hypoxia.

From Wiley to Georgetown but missing over the Gulf? It will be interesting to see what actually took place. My only thoughts are that they made an "unplanned" detour to pick up a load of illegal drugs.

This caught my attention as I used to live a few blocks away from Wiley.

a reply to: Zaphod58

And so the Cirrus claims another victim. Is it too early to call it the Bonanza of the 21st century?

He was intercepted by F-15s out of New Orleans, and F-16s out of Houston. The F-16s were first on scene, and dropped flares and attempted to get his attention. They reported he was slumped over the controls.

The pilot was part of Pilots N Paws, a group that uses private aircraft to fly animals to different areas as needed. He was on the way to Texas to pick up a Husky from the White Paws rescue that needed medical treatment.

originally posted by: Barnalby
a reply to: Zaphod58

And so the Cirrus claims another victim. Is it too early to call it the Bonanza of the 21st century?

Probably since it appears to be an issue with the oxygen system, which may or may not be the factory system installed with the turbo. There are a few aftermarket kits that are supposed to be more comfortable than the factory.

Or, it could be the cannules he was using came off if he wasn't using the mask, or he didn't notice they were not flowing, or he forgot to turn the system on or...

Can't be that expensive to have a sensor pull the ballistic parachute in such situation?