God rest his soul.
This is so spooky. Earlier today, the memory of Stuart Payne and his death-by-depressurized-Lear-Jet came into my mind for no reason at all. Maybe about 10:30 or 11:00 Eastern time.
The F-15 pilots said the plane’s windshield was iced over.
I think that is exactly the same as Payne Stewart’s jet.
Slidell doctor missing after plane crash in Gulf of Mexico
WGNO News 3:46 p.m. CDT , April 19, 2012
The U.S. Coast Guardin New Orleans is investigating a plane crash off the coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. The only passenger on board is believed to be Dr. Peter Hertzak of Slidell.
Rescue crews flying near the site say the Cessna 421 plane landed upright in the water, but the nose of the plane then submerged and the plane sank. There was no sign of Dr. Hertzak or the plane’s life raft.
Officials say the pilot had been flying in circles unresponsive for hours (see the a map of the flight in the “Dr. Peter Hertak [Photos]” link to the left), and just before 11:30 Thursday morning, the plane ran out of fuel and crashed about 133 miles south of St. Petersburg, Florida.
Dr. Hertzak was a Gynecologist with an office in Slidell, and was featured in a WGNO Beauty Breakthrough report for the G-Shot (see the link to the left).
Plane Crashes In Gulf Of Mexico: Dr. Peter Hertzak, The Lone Pilot, Missing In Gulf Waters
The pilot was identified by Slidell Airport as Dr. Peter Hertzak of Slidell, La., reported NBC. The plane eventually ran out of fuel and crashed into the water, reported Reuters. It slowly began to sink to the ocean floor. Authorities believe that Hertzak was unconscious and was the only person on board the plane.
Hertzak took off from Slidell Airport en route to Sarasota, Florida when air traffic controllers lost contact with him, reported Reuters. He was approximately 28,000 feet over the Gulf waters and began flying around in circles for several hours on Thursday at approximately 9:30 a.m.
Bill Huete was a mechanic who worked on the downed aircraft in the past and met Hertzak,who was worked as an OB-GYN.
“I met him years ago when he was looking to start flying again and bought this plane,” said Huete, reported the Associated Press. “He flew by the book and he didn’t scrimp on maintenance.”
While the cause of the crash is still under investigation, it is possible he suffered from hypoxia, or a lack of oxygen.
“As the pilot was in the climb, the cabin was not pressurizing,” speculated Stephen Aynaard, ABC News aviation consultant, “so there was not sufficient oxygen to keep him conscious.”
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/330704/20120419/plane-crash-gulf-mexico-peter-hertzak-pilot.htm
RIP.
The 421 is a pressurized piston twin with a service ceiling of around 30,000 feet and a regulatory ceiling of 28,000 feet. They are typically flown in the low flight levels.
According to the AP, the airplane went down around noon approximately 120 miles West of Tampa, “landed softly” and remained upright and intact. A Coast Guard rescue helicopter was deployed to the crash site, but was not expected to arrive while the airplane was still afloat. There were reportedly no signs from the site that the pilot was still alive.
The airplane had flight planned for 27,000 feet and 215 knots along a Gulf of Mexico high-altitude route. The flight from Slidell, LA, to Bradenton, Florida, was expected to last around three and a half hours.
While the exact cause of the incident is still unknown, references to the 1999 crash that killed golfer Payne Stewart and five other occupants aboard a Learjet after the aircraft lost cabin pressure over the Gulf of Mexico have already begun."
http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/unresponsive-cessna-421-pilot-crashes-gulf-mexico 
I would think the pilot had the auto pilot engaged for this flight. Whay would cause it to start circling?