Oklahoma Pilot Bound For Texas Disappears Near Cancun

EDMOND, OK — An Edmond, Oklahoma, anesthesiologist who was flying a rescue mission for Pilots N Paws was flying to central Texas but wound up hundreds of miles off course, disappeared somewhere around Cancun, Mexico. Now, officials think the pilot — who failed to respond to multiple fighter jets dropping flares and performing other military maneuvers — think he could have been suffering from hypoxia.

Dr. Bill Kinsinger took off from Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City on Wednesday headed for Georgetown, Texas, near Austin, according to his flight plan. He was flying in a Cirrus SR22T, the Coast Guard said.

Kinsinger was flying a rescue mission for the nonprofit when his plane went missing, according to flight coordinator Monica Marshall. Marshall said she was tracking his progress when radar showed he veered hundreds of miles off course. A fleet of volunteer pilots with private planes transport dogs in need of rescue, shelter or a new home for the nonprofit group Pilots N Paws.

It remains a mystery as to why the plane never landed in Georgetown, though. The plane kept flying and was last seen on radar 219 miles northwest of Cancun flying at 15,000 feet, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Lynn Lunsford said .

Coast Guard aircraft were searching for the plane in a broad area off the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lexie Preston.

When Kinsinger stopped responding to air traffic controllers, the North American Aerospace Defense Command, or NORAD, sent two F-16 fighters from Houston and made contact with the plane, spokesman Michael Kucharek said. The fighters flew in front of the five-seater plane, dropped flares and performed other military maneuvers in hopes of getting the pilot's attention. But Kinsinger — the only person aboard —seemed unresponsive.

The F-16s had to be replaced by two F-15 fighters from New Orleans when they ran low on fuel. The F-15s stayed with the plane for some time, but they too had to return over concerns of darkness and how close they were getting to Mexican air space. NORAD coordinated with the Coast Guard to take over monitoring the plane, Kucharek said. But the Coast Guard, relying on the FlightAware website, lost track of the plane when it stopped transmitting a signal, Coast Guard Petty Officer Travis McGee said.

"We didn't deem the plane to be a threat and that's normally what we're looking for," Kucharek said.

The Eighth Coast Guard District, referencing a NORAD report, said Kinsinger appeared to be suffering from hypoxia, in which the brain is deprived of adequate oxygen. The condition can cause confusion, nausea, breathlessness and hallucinations. If left untreated, it can be fatal.

According to FAA regulations , a civil aircraft pilot flying solo must use supplemental oxygen if flying for longer than 30 minutes above 12,500 feet, and for an entire flight if flying above 14,000 feet.

The executive director of the Oklahoma Medical Board, Lyle Kelsey, said Kinsinger is an anesthesiologist who serves on the board and lives in Edmond, Oklahoma. FAA records show the plane belongs to Abide Aviation, which is registered to Kinsinger's home address.

"He was the type of guy that went above and beyond," Marshall said. "If someone bailed on an assignment then he would just stretch and do it for you."

A message left for a brother of Kinsinger was not immediately returned.

By DAVID WARREN , Associated Press

AP writers David Koenig in Dallas and Jill Bleed in Little Rock, Arkansas, contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Best Fur Friends Rescue via AP