Basic physics of Minecraft sugests that Sand, Red Sand, and Gravel are affected by gravity. If the Player were to be suffocated by one of these three blocks, a certain texture would appear to cover the user's screen. Gravel and Sand have their own textures, but Red Sand has the Suffocation Texture that of Normal Sand.
Environment
Put your operating system (Windows 7, Windows XP, OSX) and Java version if you know it here
There is no special texture while suffocating, all I see is pure black, regardless if suffocated by sand, red sand or gravel