Private plane's ghost flight from New York ends in crash off Jamaica
Pilot seen slumped at controls after contact lost during couple's trip from New York to Florida
A search was resuming yesterday off Jamaica for the wreckage of a private plane carrying a prominent New York couple who were taken on a ghostly 2,730km journey after apparently becoming incapacitated at the controls.
US fighter pilots launched to shadow the unresponsive aircraft observed the pilot slumped over and its windows frosting over before it slammed into the waters of the Caribbean. On board were real-estate developer Laurence Glazer and his entrepreneur wife, Jane - both experienced and enthusiastic pilots.
The plane's pilot had indicated there was a problem and twice asked to descend to a lower altitude before permission was granted by an air-traffic controller, according to a recording of the radio conversation.
Radio contact with the plane was lost a short time later.
As dark fell, Jamaica's coastguard commander, Antonette Wemyss-Gorman, said search operations would be suspended and resumed at first light yesterday. A US Coast Guard cutter was expected to arrive in the area and join the search, said Petty Officer Sabrina Laberdesque.
The couple's son Rick Glazer said his parents were both licensed pilots.
Numerous public officials offered their condolences for a couple described as a linchpin in efforts to rejuvenate Rochester, a city in upstate New York stung by the decline of corporate giants Kodak, Bausch & Lomb and Xerox.