Thursday May 12, 2022
A passenger without any flying experience safely landed a
plane at a Florida airport after the pilot became incapacitated.
The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating the
incident, which happened on Tuesday afternoon. It was believed the pilot may
have suffered a medical emergency.
In a statement, the FAA said two passengers were onboard the
single-engine Cessna 208 when the pilot had a “possible medical issue”.
One passenger steered the private plane smoothly into Palm
Beach international airport.
According to LiveATC.net audio, the passenger told air
traffic control: “I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone
incoherent and I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”
Asked what the situation was with the pilot, the passenger
said: “He is incoherent. He is out.”
The air traffic controller asked the passenger what his
position was.
He replied: “I have no idea. I see the coast of Florida in
front of me and I have no idea.”
“Try to follow the coast either north or southbound,” the
controller said. “We’re trying to locate you.”
After four minutes, the passenger asked: “Have you guys
located me? I can’t even get my nav screen to turn on. It has all the
information on it. You guys have any ideas on that?”
Air traffic control located the plane, which was off Boca
Raton.
The air traffic controller proceeded to guide the passenger
through the descent, saying: “Try to hold the wings level and see if you can
start descending for me, push forward on the controls and descend at a very
slow rate.”
In video obtained by CNN, the plane can be seen landing
slowly and smoothly.
In a separate recording, another air traffic controller can
be heard telling pilots: “You just witnessed a couple of passengers land that
plane.”
“Did you say the passengers landed the plane?” an American
Airlines pilot asked. “Oh my God. Great job.”