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The communications essentially end once the jet reaches an altitude of 34,000 and nothing is heard until communications on guard and the intercept communications when the jet flies into Virginia. The pilot was most likely conscious up until 340, cruising at this altitude rather than the 390 filed. There was no attempt to descend into MacArthur before the jet turned around back to its starting point because the pilot was likely unconscious at that point.

The intercepting pilots reported visually seeing the pilot slumped over to the right, confirming he was unconscious or non-responsive at some point in the flight. It is unknown how the three passengers were faring at this point and whether or not they were conscious. McSpadden said that based on known information, two factors likely could have led to the crash, hypoxia or rapid decompression.

Hypoxia occurs when there is not enough oxygen to feed the brain, eventually leading to a state of unconsciousness. The lack of responsiveness from the pilot had people speculating hypoxia early on, similar to a 1999 crash when a Learjet 35A lost cabin pressure and flew aimlessly around the country before crashing in a South Dakota pasture and killing PGA pro golfer Payne Stewart.

Hypoxia has what is called an insidious onset, meaning the signs and symptoms occur so gradually that they are fully established by the time you become aware of them. When the cabin pressurization system does not work and the pilot is unaware, due to the insidious nature of hypoxia they will also likely be unaware of the signs and symptoms before it is too late. McSpadden said it is possible that the pilot was unaware of a cabin pressurization issue until the hypoxia had taken over and he was impaired or incapacitated. In similar instances, this occurred about 20 minutes into the flight. Based on what is known, there is an indication of an insidious hypoxic event.

The second, slightly more dramatic depressurization event, is rapid decompression. When this occurs around flight level 350, or in that range, a pilot will have roughly 30-60 seconds to put on a mask before they use consciousness. The concept “Time of Useful Consciousness” outlines different altitude levels and the amount of time needed to put a mask on before losing consciousness. Pilots are trained to put the masks on quickly in emergent situations, especially pilots with the type rating and background this pilot had.

Maybe an auto-pilot where the plane automatically descends to a breathable altitude if the pilot doesn’t respond to a regular stimulus and there’s high altitude (low) pressure within the cabin? Doesn’t seem more dangerous than the plane eventually crashing on its own somewhere due an incapacitated pilot.

"The AOPA released its early analysis..."

This is Total B.S.

"The intercepting pilots reported visually seeing the pilot slumped over to the right,..."

Hypoxia would have caused the windows to "ice over"; hence, the F-16 pilots couldn't have seen anything inside the plane.

That was quick! It must be that they don’t want anymore NRA and Trump donors to die. Last time I saw such a fast advisory was immediately after TWA Flight 800 when every 747-100 had to have the wiring redone in their center fuel tank. Good thing neither of these are cover-ups!