Mooney M20 similar to accident aircraft. (Photo by Ashrunners Photo Safaris. Licensed under Creative Commons 2.0)

A small plane crashed near Muncie, Indiana (at 9825 W. Indiana Route 28) today (September 30, 2009) after the pilot apparently lost consciousness at the controls of the aircraft.  The pilot was the sole occupant of the 2003 Mooney M20M (registration N400DE) when it crashed into an agricultural field after Indiana Air National Guard F-16s intercepted the circling the aircraft.  He did not survive the crash.  The pilot had stopped responding to air traffic control (ATC) requests moments before he was scheduled to land at Delaware County Airport (MIE) in Muncie, Indiana.  The accident occurred at 12:30 PM EDT and the pilot of the aircraft has not been identified.  The aircraft is registered to David Eyde.

The plane departed Gerald Ford International Airport (GRR) in Grand Rapids, Michigan at 9:43 AM EDT and headed north towards Traverse City, MI before turning back south and heading towards MIE.  Sometime in that part of the flight, the pilot appears to have lost consciousness either because of medical reasons (such as a heart attack) or due to lack of oxygen.  If the latter was the case, this may be the result of a malfunctioning pressurization or oxygen equipment.  If this was a non-pressurized cabin, oxygen mask system, the pilot may have failed to use it in a timely fashion.  It is still too early to narrow down the causes.  The F-16s that intercepted the aircraft noted the pilot slumped in his seat as the plane circled near FL250 (approximately 25,000 feet).  The plane continued to fly on its own for nearly an hour before crashing into the field.

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At 25,000 feet, a pilot only has less than five minutes before his brain’s performance is affected by lack of adequate oxygen (worse if the guy was a smoker).  Among the effects a pilot would succumb to drowsiness, poor judgment, impaired coordination and control of the aircraft, impaired speech, loss of consciousness, and, eventually, failure of circulatory and nervous systems leading to death.  As mentioned above, though, we still don’t know if another medical condition caused the problems here.

This accident is very similar to another recent Indiana related accident in which a pilot appeared to have lost consciousness in flight and crashed in West Virginia.

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Related Posts:

• Pilot loses consciousness and crashes in West Virginia.
• Passenger lands plane after pilot dies.
• Authorities find missing Mooney M20
  

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