Early in the flight, the aircraft, which was climbing to its assigned altitude on autopilot , lost cabin pressure, and all six on board were incapacitated by hypoxia , a lack of oxygen in the brain and body.
The aircraft continued climbing past its assigned altitude, then failed to make the westward turn toward Dallas over North Florida and continued on its northwestern course, flying over the southern and midwestern United States for almost four hours and 1, miles 2, km.
The plane ran out of fuel over South Dakota and crashed into a field near Aberdeen after an uncontrolled descent , killing all six on board. The two pilots were Michael Kling and Stephanie Bellegarrigue. The four passengers on board were PGA golfer Payne Stewart ; his agent, and former Alabama football quarterback, Robert Fraley; [ 4 ] [ 5 ] president of the Leader Enterprises sports management agency, Van Ardan; and Bruce Borland , a golf architect with the Jack Nicklaus golf course design company.
Before departure, the aircraft had been fueled with 5, lb 2, kg of Jet A , enough for four hours and 45 minutes of flight. On board were two pilots and four passengers.
The next attempt to contact the aircraft occurred six minutes and twenty seconds later, fourteen minutes after departure, with the aircraft at 36, feet 11, m.
