NY real estate developer and wife who crashed off Jamaica after flying 1,700 miles unconscious asked for permission to fly lower TWICE 'because of plane problem'

A small private plane that passed its Florida destination before crossing into Cuban airspace - and triggering a U.S. security alert - has crashed in the water off Jamaica twice asked permission to fly at a lower altitude before the pilot lost consciousness, it has emerged. Larry Glazer, a real estate developer in Rochester, New York, was seen slumped over the controls by a fighter jet sent to escort the plane. He and his entrepreneur wife Jane, both died in the crash.

Their plane, which took off from New York on Friday morning, sparked panic when the pilot stopped responding to radio calls about an hour after take-off and passed its destination of Naples, Florida.

It continued flying south for several hours at an altitude of 25,000 feet before entering Cuban airspace and heading towards the Caribbean, eventually crashing 14 miles North East of Port Antonio in Portland on Friday afternoon. In total, it traveled more than 1,700 miles. Two fighter jets had been sent to the plane earlier on Friday after air traffic controllers were unable to make contact with the pilot. The jet pilots noted that Glazer was slumped over his controls, perhaps from oxygen deprivation. 

One of the fighter jet pilots said he could see the pilot of the small plane, a SOCATA TBM 700, which has a pressurized cabin, was still alive. 'I can see his chest rising and falling,' he said in a recording of his dispatch. 'Right before I left... we could see that he was actually breathing.' 

The plane also had 'frosted windows', an indication of a sudden loss of cabin pressure and officials said they suspected hypoxia - a deprivation of oxygen - could have caused them to pass out. 

According to ABC, the pilot requested to fly lower during two calls to air traffic control, however when they asked if he wanted to declare himself in a state of emergency, he said no.

The plane was flying at 28,000 feet at 10 am when Glazer asked to descend to 18,000 feet because of an issue with the plane, ABC reported. He was cleared to drop to 25,000 feet but then asked to go lower. Air traffic control denied the second request because of the traffic traveling below Glazer. They said if he made a left turn he could bypass the traffic and descend.

He made the turn, but then stopped responding.