'Unresponsive' pilot crashes plane, dies-F-16s scramble in pursuit of single-engine plane 300 miles

[RamboLiberal]

Source: MSNBC/AP

RAVENSWOOD, W.Va. - A single-engine plane crashed in a heavily wooded area of West Virginia after the pilot apparently lost consciousness and flew hundreds of miles past the airport in Indiana where he was supposed to land.

Pilot William Huff, 61, was killed, but it was not clear if he died before the crash or as a result of it. National Guard jets chased the plane after it overshot its destination.

Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Arlene Salac said Huff was the only person in the Cirrus SR-22, which crashed about 10 p.m. Thursday near Ravenswood, 50 miles north of Charleston.

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North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman Michael Kucharek said two National Guard F-16s were dispatched to track the plane when it failed to land at the airpark.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32238654/ns/us_news-life/

[Kurovski]

1. Geez. Too bad we couldn't get any planes in the air on 9/11

Gosh.

[RamboLiberal]

2. Or the ones we did we sent out over the ocean instead

of against the hijacked airliners.

[MadMaddie]

5. Weren't they all on a training mission with no ammo or weapons?

This was a drill Cheney wanted if I remember correctly.

[Mist]

12. And, conveniently, Darth was the first line of command to send up fighter pilots, had he wanted to.

[Mika]

21. Only the president can order a shoot down of a civilian plane.

911 military pilots refused authorization to shoot down without direct CIC orders.

[MadMaddie]

23. And where was the coward in chief at the time?

[saigon68]

25. The Chimp was reading "My Pet Goat"

[MadMaddie]

26. How could forget that piece of priceless history...?

[wroberts189]

14. and rummy .. they were all sent to Canada. nt

[robinlynne]

3. EXACTLY!

[pjt7]

4. Too bad the mighty Pentagon

didn't have this kind of air coverage... WELL AFTER, two planes slammed into the twin towers.

[Politicalboi]

8. And to think the Pentagon

Has SAMS on the roof and nobody did shit. But hey those who think about 9/11 and how the governments story doesn't pass the smell test, we all are known as conspiracy nuts.

[KingBob]

15. 911

Be nice - some of us wear our tin foil hat proudly.

[indepat]

22. Yeah, but wasn't Rummy oblivious to the attacks until the Pentagon was struck although having

authority to scramble our jets? It's a darned shame no one could reach him although reportedly in his office at the Pentagon all the while this all went down. :P

[The abyss]

6. Where to begin?

Well noted and stated!

Thank you Rambo for posting.

There was so much “wrong” with our air response on 9/11 it can not be stated enough.

However, I digress...


Wake ‘em up in ones & twos.

Don’t invite a trip to the “conspiracy hole”.

[notadmblnd]

7. They also did this with a famous golfer's plane when it crashed before 911

so it appears the only time our military couldn't do it's job was on that fateful day. But I'm sure that it's just a coincidence:sarcasm:

[Brother Buzz]

9. The famous golfer with the cool pants (plus-fours)

Payne Stewart

[bigworld]

10. Sending jet fighters against Cessna-type planes

seems like overkill. Can jet fighters fly as slow as a Cessna? You'd think they would have some other kind of interceptor plane for that.

[Brother Buzz]

11. Payne Stewart died in a lear jet

[troubledamerican]

16. So? The point still stands: They scrambled in 1999 in 10 min. 2001? Hours.

[Brother Buzz]

17. SO? Scrambled in 10 min is totally BOGUS, the planes were already in the air

NTSB pegs the time at roughly 76 minutes from the controllers realizing there’s a problem, to the intercept taking place.

http://www.911myths.com/html/payne_stewart.html

[Posteritatis]

20. What, exactly? The USAF stopped flying prop fighters in the fifties

The R&D budget for a dedicated Cessna-intercepting aircraft for the USAF isn't exactly a worthwhile priority these days.

[hootinholler]

18. MAN! That outfit cries GOLF!

Stylin' man Stylin! The Argyle just pulls it all together.

:thumbsup:

-Hoot

[WheelWalker]

13. Gezactly. A bizarre coinkydink n/t

[formercia]

19. At least the pilot had the aircraft trimmed well.

so that dying at the controls still allowed it to fly over 300 miles.

[trof]

24. Cirrus has a built in parachute.

The poor guy must have been unconscious or already dead.

Cirrus Airframe Parachute System
CAPS – developed by Cirrus and BRS™ – is a rocket-deployed 55-foot (17 m) parachute that has been credited with saving the lives of over 20 Cirrus pilots and passengers. Normally hidden beneath the sleek surface of the airframe, strong Kevlar straps are ready to suspend the entire airplane beneath the canopy. CAPS can be deployed by the pilot or passengers by simply pulling an overhead handle. Once activated, the parachute is fully deployed within seconds, lowering the airplane and its occupants to the ground. Cirrus is the only manufacturer of Part 23 certified aircraft in the world to include such a parachute as a standard aircraft feature.
http://cirrusaircraft.com/sr22/features.aspx