When Mark Phariss met up with some of his fellow Westminster College school mates a few weeks ago, he didn't know it would probably be the last time he'd see two of them.
One passed away from ALS on Dec. 12, just after the visit. The other friend, a pilot named Dr. Bill Kinsinger, went missing Wednesday flying over the Gulf of Mexico.
"We were in the same fraternity, and he was a good friend," said Phariss, who added Kinsinger graduated from Westminster College in 1984. "He was two years younger than I."
While they didn't see each other often, they met up recently with another Westminster school mate, Jim Elliott.
"We actually saw each other just a couple weeks ago at the home of another fraternity brother who was dying of ALS, Rich Roever," Phariss said, adding Roever's death was unexpected so soon after that visit.
Now, Kinsinger's airplane is missing. FAA officials report Kinsinger left Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City Wednesday, taking off at 2:19 p.m. He was alone, flying a Cirrus R-22, a piston single-engine plane registered to Abide Aviation.
As a pilot for the pet rescue organization Pilots N Paws, Kinsinger was on his way to pick up Masaru, an 11-year-old husky dog, for an Oklahoma City rescue organization. The dog is still with his foster family, rescue officials said.
FAA officials said Kinsinger had filed a 371-mile flight plant estimating his landing time at Georgetown, Texas, to be 6:12 p.m.,but he never landed. Instead, his plane veered off course ahead of its approach to Georgetown and headed into the Gulf of Mexico.
As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the plane was still missing, according to Petty Officer Travis Magee of the U.S. Coast Guard's Heartland District.
"As of now, the plane has not been found but the Coast Guard is actively searching," he said.
According to FAA spokesperson Lynn Lunsford, Kinsinger was unresponsive to air traffic control instructions, and was last observed on radar Wednesday evening about 220 miles northwest of Cancun, Mexico.
"We were tracking the aircraft using a system called FlightAware," Magee said.
That live flight tracker at FlightAware.com shows Kinsinger's aircraft was flying at 18,900 feet from 2:35 p.m. until data stops at 6:05 p.m. At altitudes higher than about 10,000 feet (depending on aircraft type), hypoxia can set in if a pilot isn't on supplemental oxygen. Kinsinger's plane reached 10,000 feet of altitude at 2:23 p.m. and continued to climb, reaching 19,000 feet for 30 seconds (as tracked) at 2:34 p.m.
FlightAware tracked the airplane until 4:59 p.m. when Houston flight center took over.
Two NORAD fighter aircraft were launched late Wednesdayfrom Houston to make visual contact. U.S. Coast Guard officials reported the pilot was slouched over an appeared unconscious, most likely due to hypoxia. According to Voice of America, the two F-16s flew in front of the plane, dropped flares and performed other military maneuvers in an effort to gain the pilot's attention, but he appeared to be unresponsive.
Other aircraft were sent to assist, according to VOA, and stayed with the airplane until it got dark. A NORAD official said Mexican authorities tracked the airplane on radar but then lost visability with it at 6:08 p.m. Wednesday.
On Thursday, U.S. Coast Guard officials said they were searching for the plane in a broad area north of the Yucatan Peninsula. Other searchers include the Mexican Navy, the Coast Guard reported.
Kinsinger lived in Edmond, Oklahoma, and practiced as an anesthesiologist, Phariss said, adding Kinsinger had two sons. They were all members of the fraternity Beta Theta Pi at Westminster.
"I was a senior and he was a sophomore," Phariss added. "He was kind of a prankster and a funny guy."
The recent visit among the long-time friends led to shared memories and laughter, he said.
"We sat there reminising and told funny stories," Phariss said. "Bill was flying down to pick up a husky and bring him back. He flew places - he loved to fly, so he'd fly down and pick up dogs."
Phariss said he's not giving up hope his friend will be found alive.
"I'm still holding out some hope," he said.