The United States Coast Guard and Mexican authorities are searching for a Cirrus SR22 that vanished Wednesday from radar over the Gulf of Mexico northwest of Cancun.The aircraft, N325JK, was registered to Abide Aviation LLC of Edmund, Oklahoma. The missing pilot, reported by family members as Bill Kinsinger of Oklahoma City, departed Wiley Post airport (PWA) en route to Georgetown, Texas (GTU), on a humanitarian animal rescue mission for Pilots N Paws, a nonprofit organization that coordinates volunteer pilots and aircraft willing to assist animals in need.
According to tracking data from FlightAware, as the aircraft approached its destination, it veered slightly to the left and then proceeded on a constant heading, bypassing its intended destination and continuing to the southeast until crossing the Texas shoreline near Galveston and proceeding out over the Gulf of Mexico. When the aircraft stopped responding to air traffic control, F-16 fighter jets from Houston were scrambled by NORAD to intercept the stricken craft. They reported that the pilot appeared to be the sole occupant of the aircraft and also reported that the pilot appeared to be slumped over in his seat and was unresponsive to their repeated attempts to attract his attention. Fuel restraints and approaching darkness forced the interceptors to disengage and return to their base. Radar contact of the aircraft was lost about 200 miles northwest of Cancun and showed the aircraft at approximately 15,000 feet.
