F-15s Scramble For Plane With Unresponsive Pilot Now Over Cuba
Two U.S. fighter jets trailing an unresponsive small aircraft over the Atlantic Ocean have broken off as the aircraft is now in Cuban airspace, defense officials say.
The U.S. Northern Command tweeted at 12:46 p.m. that the unresponsive aircraft took off from this morning from Rochester, N.Y., with flight plan to Naples, Fla.
Officials from NORAD say occupants later failed to respond to attempts to communicate. The fighter jets scrambled at 11:30 a.m. Officials suspect hypoxia, or a deprivation of oxygen, may be behind the lack of response.
"The fighter pilots visually verified that the pilot was unresponsive and slumped over the controls," the joint North American air command said on its Facebook page. "The aircraft continues to be followed by NORAD jets. NORAD continues to monitor the situation in close coordination with the FAA."
The plane is described as a Socata TBM-700 light business and utility aircraft.
At 1:28 p.m. came word that the fighter jets had broken off as the plane reached the airspace of Cuba.