The agency said Friday it has suspended the search for the plane and missing pilot.
The plane was headed from Slidell, La., to Sarasota, Fla., when controllers lost contact with it Thursday morning. Two F-15 fighter jets flew alongside and monitored the plane for hours, unable to contact the pilot, before it crashed into the Gulf about 120 miles west of Tampa, Fla.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.
