Page 16 - IAV Digital Magazine #546

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Passenger With No Flying Experience Lands Plane After Pilot Becomes Incapacitated
By Sarah Do Couto, Global News
“I’ve got a serious sit- uation here,” a plane passenger
told Florida air traffic control after the pilot of his flight became incapacitated in the cockpit on Tuesday.
The unnamed pas- senger with no flying experience told air traffic control the pilot had “gone incoher- ent,” adding he had “no idea how to fly the airplane,” CNN origi-
nally reported.
The passenger was one of two people aboard the single- engine Cessna 208 airplane.
Miraculously, with the help of an air traffic controller (who is also a flight instructor), the passenger was able to successfully land the plane at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.
In the audio obtained from air traffic control,
the controller asks the passenger what the position of the plane is.
“I have no idea,” the passenger answered calmly. “I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea.”
The air traffic con- troller then asks about the situation with the pilot, and the passen- ger confirms, “He’s incoherent. He’s out.”
Robert Morgan was the controller
who guided the plane to a safe landing, WPBF, an ABC-affili- ated local news net- work, reported.
Though he had never flown a Cessna 208 airplane before, Morgan used a photo of plane’s cockpit to guide the passenger to a safe landing.
“I knew the plane flies like any other plane. I just had to keep him calm, point him to the
runway and just tell him how to reduce the power so they can descend to land,” Morgan told WPBF.
“I have no idea,” the passenger answered calmly. “I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea.”
The air traffic con- troller then asks about the situation with the pilot, and the passen- ger confirms, “He’s incoherent. He’s out.” Robert Morgan was the controller
who guided the plane to a safe landing, WPBF, an ABC-affili- ated local news net- work, reported. Though he had never flown a Cessna 208 airplane before, Morgan used a photo of plane’s cockpit to guide the passenger to a safe landing.
“I knew the plane flies like any other plane. I just had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and just tell him how to reduce the power so they can
descend to land,” Morgan told WPBF.
Other air traffic con- trollers boasted about the successful landing to other nearby pilots.
“You just witnessed a couple of passengers land that plane,” air traffic told another commercial plane waiting to take off.
“Did you say the pas- sengers landed the airplane?” the other pilot asked. “Oh my God. Great job.”
When Morgan and the passenger met on the tarmac, the pas- senger told Morgan he was going to go home to see his preg- nant wife.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigat- ing the situation. Though the condition of the incoherent pilot is not known, the FA A said they had a “pos- sible medical issue.”
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine