Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, September 30, 2009
UPDATE
(FAIRVIEW, IN) - A small single engine plane crashed in a corn field near Muncie in eastern Indiana this afternoon.
The Randolph County Sheriff's Department says the pilot was killed.
And it appears that he may have been unconscious before the plane went down because of the condition called "hypoxia."
Earth breath at high altitude takes in less oxygen.
The plane was at 25,000 feet when air traffic controllers found that they could not get a response from the pilot.
They called the North American Aerospace Defense Command at Peterson Air Force base in Colorado.
When the flight from Traverse City, Michigan flew past its intended destination, Grand Rapids, two Indiana Air National Guard F-16 Fighters took off to intercept it.
Those pilots, too, determined that the pilot was unresponsive.
They watched helplessly as the plane went down.
The Indiana Department of Homeland Security was monitoring the situation with the plane entering Indiana airspace.
But spokeswoman Rachel Meyers says there is no indication that the pilot intended to commit a terrorist act.
The plane was a four-seater, but authorities say the pilot was the only person on board.
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