A turboprop plane that stopped responding to radio calls and flew hundreds of miles off course — prompting a chase by two F-15 fighter jets — crashed off the coast of Jamaica on Friday afternoon, NBC News has learned. The pilot had been spotted “unconscious and slumped over” in the cockpit, U.S. officials told NBC News. NORAD, the joint American and Canadian air command, said on Twitter that the people on board might be suffering from oxygen deprivation. The plane was registered to Rochester, New York, real estate developer Larry Glazer. He and his wife Jane were the only people on board, their son, Ken, told CNBC. The plane, a six-seater Socata model TBM-700, took off just before 8:30 a.m. ET from Rochester and was headed for Naples, Florida. NBC News has learned the pilot radioed air traffic control while at 28,000 feet saying he had some type of problem. He received clearance to lower altitude to 25,000 feet but declined to declare an emergency, U.S. officials said. Air traffic control subsequently cleared him to 20,000 but he never responded and stopped answering calls. Fighter jets were dispatched and chased the plane but broke off the trail after it entered Cuban airspace. The F-15s then circled around, resuming the chase as the small plane exited Cubas territorial waters, officials said. Shortly before 3 p.m., the Federal Aviation Administration reported the plane had crashed 14 miles off the coast of Port Antonio, Jamaica. Capt. Basil Jarrett of the Jamaica Defence Force said a dive-and-rescue team was on its way to the crash site. Larry Glazer, founder of Buckingham Properties, is a veteran pilot who is president of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association. In the spring edition of the association newsletter, he wrote about buying his first TBM in 1993 and just taking delivery of a new one, with the blessing of his wife. I asked her if she would like a new winter home down south or a new TBM. Without hesitation she said, What the heck, just buy the plane... he wrote. That is all it took. Jane has been flying my TBM for the last 15 years, and she is so excited about the prospect of flying a new plane. She never hesitated or blinked. Now that is a keeper of a wife. Sorry trade-ins not accepted.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 19:40:20 +0000