Two NORAD F-16s were scrambled over the Midwest on Thursday after the pilot of a Cirrus SR-22 apparently became incapacitated at the controls and the aircraft flew over its destination of Eagle Creek, Indiana. The FAA asked for the fighter escort after they lost contact with the aircraft as it flew over. The plane continued, apparently on autopilot, for more than two hours before crashing near Henderson, West Virginia. The pilot did not survive.
Along the way the military pilots tried to raise the Cirrus with radio calls, hand signals and even flares but all to no avail. The aircraft is registered to Sequoia Airways, of Avon, Indiana. The flight originated in York, Nebraska. Name of the pilot has not yet been released.
