Passenger with NO experience lands airplane on Florida runway after pilot fell unconscious
Nothing short of a miracle! Incredible moment passenger with NO experience lands airplane on Florida runway after telling air traffic control ‘my pilot is incoherent…I have no idea how to fly a plane’
The Cessna 208 Caravan was flying from the Bahamas to Florida on Tuesday when the pilot fell unconsciousThe passenger contacted air traffic control and asked for help, but had no idea where he was or how to flyAir traffic control took four minutes to locate him, and he was found off the coastline of Boca Raton Palm Beach airport controller guided him down, having printed off an image of the cockpit to talk throughAviation experts described the feat as astonishing and incredibly impressive, given the complexity of the controls Do you know the brave passenger who landed the plane? Contact newsUS@dailymail.com
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A plane passenger with no flying experience safely landed a Cessna light aircraft with the help of an air traffic controller after the pilot suffered a medical emergency and fell unconscious.
The unnamed passenger was flying in the Cessna 208 Caravan from the Bahamas to Florida on Tuesday afternoon when the drama began.
‘I’ve got a serious situation here,’ the passenger can be heard telling air traffic control in Fort Pierce, while flying over the Florida coastline around 70 miles north of his destination.
‘My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.’
Air traffic control replied: ‘Roger. What’s your position?’
The passenger said: ‘I have no idea. I can see the coast of Florida in front of me. And I have no idea.’
But somehow, with the help of air traffic control, the passenger remained incredibly calm and expertly brought the Cessna into land at Palm Peach International Airport, despite having never sat behind the controls of an aircraft before.
An aviation expert told CNN it is not uncommon for small turboprop airplanes such as the Cessna 208 Caravan to fly with only one pilot, particularly when the flights are private.
The Cessna 208 Caravan is seen coming in to land on Tuesday at Palm Beach airport
The passenger didn’t even know how to turn the navigation system on, and did not know the plane’s location other than ‘off the Florida coast’
The small aircraft can be seen on the tarmac at Palm Beach airport, having successfully landed
The audibly shocked air traffic controller in Fort Pierce told the passenger that he would try and locate the plane when the emergency call came through over his radio.
‘Maintain wings level and just try to follow the coast, either north or southbound,’ the controller said.
‘We’re trying to locate you.’
For the next four minutes, audio showed the passenger remained remarkably calm as he tried to work out what to do and wait for the air traffic controller to find his aircraft.
‘Have you guys located me yet?’ he asked after a while.
‘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?’
The man was eventually found flying off the coast of Boca Raton, and air traffic control at Palm Beach airport managed to talk him down, guiding him how to land the plane.
A source told ABC News the controller working at Palm Beach was a certified flight instructor, with experience working with Cessna aircrafts.
The aviation professional printed out a layout of the cockpit, and used it to guide the passenger through the steps of flying and landing the plane.
The landing was a little wobbly, but ultimately safe and successful according to air traffic control, who were clearly astounded at the passenger’s ability to settle the plane on the runway with no prior experience whatsoever.
‘You just witnessed a couple passengers land that plane,’ the dumbfounded air traffic controller said over the radio.
Another voice said: ‘Did you say the passengers landed the plane?’
‘That’s correct.’
‘Oh, my gosh. Great job!’
The pilot. who remained unconscious was taken to the hospital as a result of the unknown illness. His condition remains unknown.
Justin Dalmolin, a JetBlue pilot, was told to delay his takeoff to give the unnamed Cessna passenger space and time to land the plane.
‘The level of difficulty that this person had to deal with in terms of having zero flight time to fly and land a single engine turbine aircraft is absolutely incredible,’ said an amazed Dalmolin.
He told ABC 25: ‘The incredible part is not just flying the aircraft but obviously the most difficult thing which is configuring the aircraft for approach and landing. And then landing it, and that to me, for a zero time pilot.
‘I remember my first days when I first started flight training, I was white-knuckled and sweating for my first ten hours of training.’
The pilot was taken to hospital, and the passenger safely made it off the plane
Dalmolin said it was lucky it was daylight so the passenger at the wheel could see where he was going because it would have been extremely difficult if it the saga had unfolded overnight or in heavy fog.
‘You know it’s nothing short of a miracle and I’m really glad for them and their families they had such a great outcome,’ said Dalmolin.
John Nance, an aviation expert, told ABC 25 that the landing of such a complex plane by someone without any flying history was a remarkable feat.
‘This is the first time I’ve ever heard of one of these being landed by somebody that has no aeronautical experience,’ Nance said.
‘The person on the airplane who had no aeronautical experience listened very carefully and obviously followed instructions with great calm.
‘That’s what made the difference.’
Do you know the brave passenger who landed the plane? Contact newsUS@dailymail.com
