US Coast Guard ends search for missing OKC pilot, doctor
The U.S. Coast Guard ended the search Monday night for a missing Oklahoma City pilot whose airplane disappeared over the Gulf of Mexico last week.
Dr. John William “Bill” Kinsinger, 55, disappeared Wednesday over the Gulf of Mexico, along with the small plane he was flying. The Coast Guard searched 20,090 square miles for about 79 hours, according to a news release.
Capt. David Cooper, chief incident management for the Eighth Coast Guard District, said in the news release the decision to end the search was not one that officials took lightly.
“Dr. Kinsinger was a well-loved man and our hearts go out to everyone impacted during this tragic time,” Cooper said.
Kinsinger left Wiley Post Airport in Oklahoma City on Wednesday evening en route to Georgetown, Texas, to pick up a rescue dog. That evening, Kinsinger didn’t respond to radio communication, the Coast Guard reported. The small airplane he was flying was spotted on radar over the Gulf of Mexico. It was last seen on radar about 135 miles north of the Yucatan Peninsula.
Coast Guard pilots who flew alongside Kinsinger’s plane in an attempt to establish communication saw the man slouched over, apparently unconscious, the Coast Guard reported.
It’s believed the plane went down in an area of the Gulf where the depth is about 3,900 feet, Guard Petty Officer Brandon Giles said Tuesday.
Jacob Kinsinger, Bill Kinsinger’s son, said Tuesday that his father “went out a hero.”
“My dad was the greatest guy I’ve ever met and he died doing exactly what he loved, saving dogs and flying his airplane,” said Jacob Kinsinger, 22.
Involved in the search were Coast Guard aircrews from Texas, Florida, North Carolina and Alabama. Also vessels from the Coast Guard searched the area Wednesday evening. Two Mexican naval ships assisted in the search.
The news was taken hard at Integris Baptist Medical Center, where Kinsinger was an anesthesiologist.
Hospital President Tim Johnsen said in a statement released Tuesday that hospital officials were “shocked and heartbroken” at the news.
“We wanted so badly to find Dr. Kinsinger alive, or at the very least — find conclusive evidence that he did not survive so his family and friends could have some sense of closure,” Johnsen said. “Perhaps that will come, in time.”
Support for Kinsinger’s wife, Kerri, his children and the hospital’s women’s center and anesthesiology teams has been “overwhelming,” as has the outpouring of messages and prayers from Kinsinger’s former patients and other members of the community, Johnsen said.
“There is no doubt, he was a kind and compassionate man,” Johnsen said, “one who devoted his life to caring for people and pets alike. He may have only walked this earth for a short 55 years, but he made a lasting impact on everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.”