zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Beyond Cars
/
Passenger Lands Plane After Pilot Becomes Unresponsive
Passenger Lands Plane After Pilot Becomes Unresponsive-May 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:13:53

A passenger aboard a plane flying above Florida achieved a feat few before them have. The pilot flying the aircraft had a medical emergency, but with the help of Air Traffic Control, a passenger with no flying experience aced a landing better than some experienced pilots do.

On Tuesday morning, Cessna 208 Caravan departed from Leonard Thompson Airport in Great Abaco Island, Bahamas. The aircraft, operated by Beach Amphibian LLC, was bound for Florida’s Treasure Coast International Airport. According to Flight Aware, t that usually takes just over an hour, but this time the flight would encounter an emergency when the pilot became incapacitated.

As by WPBF News, during the flight, a passenger called out to Air Traffic Control, telling the controller on the other line that the pilot was incoherent and that they had no idea how to fly the plane. But it was now up to the two passengers aboard the aircraft to land it.

The Cessna Caravan that the passenger now controlled is a turboprop known for its utility and longevity. However, this aircraft isn’t like the Cessna 172s or 150s that you’d normally find at a flight school. As a pilot interviewed by WPBF , a Caravan is sophisticated for someone without any hours, and the passenger had to figure out how to get it down safely.

Thankfully, the determined passenger had an excellent air traffic controller on the other line, Treasure Coast Airport controller Robert Morgan. As CNN Travel , Morgan is a certified flight instructor. He didn’t have experience with a Caravan, but he pulled up a picture of a Caravan’s instrument panel and began giving the passenger instructions. Together, they would keep the plane in the sky, find the airport, and guide the Caravan to a safe landing.

Early on, Morgan asked the passenger for the plane’s position, but the passenger didn’t know: “I have no idea. I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea.”

In ATC transcripts aviation blog Kathryn’s Report, the passenger does appear to have some aviation knowledge and was able to set the transponder to 7700 (indicating an emergency). CNN Travel that while the passenger had never flown, they had watched pilots fly before.

Morgan instructed the passenger to keep the aircraft flying with its wings level and in a slow descent: “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.”

Example photo of a Cessna 208.

The tower hadn’t yet located the plane on radar, so Morgan also instructed the passenger to follow the coast. The aircraft followed the coast northbound while Morgan tried to locate it. The passenger at the controls wasn’t able to get the aircraft’s navigation screen on.

Morgan contacted the controllers at Palm Beach International Airport, who were able to spot the plane about 20 miles east of Boca Raton. Armed with that information, Morgan guided the passenger towards Palm Beach. When the aircraft was about eight miles out, Morgan handed the passenger off to ATC at Palm Beach.

With the help of Palm Beach’s ATC, the passenger configured the aircraft for landing and made a safe touchdown. Palm Beach’s controller announced over the airwaves that the plane that just landed on the runway was commanded by a passenger.

Pilots and aviation experts interviewed by WPBF the passenger for amazing airmanship. With ATC help, a passenger with zero hours of flight time landed a turboprop about as well with someone with far more experience. One expert said that they hadn’t seen a Caravan landed by someone without flying experience. And Morgan got to meet and hug his impromptu student.

The FAA is investigating the incident and the condition of the pilot has not been released at this time.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Beyond Cars
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
Crystal Chunks Are Bursting Through The Road In China
A video of what looks like quartz breaking through the surface of a is making the rounds on . I don’t get over there much, being suspicious of the Chinese over concerns of it spying on its users, as the reports. OK, fine. Actually, I just don’t get the humor...
May 5, 2025
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
2023 Zero DSR/X: The Bike Of The Future, But Not Our Future
The world, in 2023, is cyberpunk. We’ve got the , the , and the that keeps the and the . But in cyberpunk media, people are always riding . Why are we stuck with the same bikes we’ve always had? , it seems, wants to address this grievous wrong....
May 5, 2025
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Marshmallow Treats Ended Up On The Royal Air Force's No-Fly List
Over in the United Kingdom, there’s a certain dessert known as a “teacake” — or, as a British friend kindly informed me, it’s more accurately known as a “Tunnock” in Scotland. Basically, the food in question for this particular story are actually a cookie base topped with marshmallow, coated...
May 5, 2025
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
Aircraft Touch Tips During Blizzard At Japanese Airport
As at , its port side wing the starboard vertical stabilizer of bound for Hong Kong. This comes at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport, and . “Our aircraft, which was stationary at the time with no customers nor crew onboard, was struck by a Korean Air A330 which was taxiing past,”...
May 5, 2025
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
String Of Boeing Failures Continues With 737-800 Flight Turning Back With Cracked Cockpit Windshield
In the wake of recent major , including , , and the debacle that was , it isn’t a good time for further failures by the company. that would , an unrelated 737-800 with a cracked windshield, became international news this weekend. The flight took off from Sapporo-New Chitose...
May 5, 2025
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
Deadliest Train In America Kills 3 People In 2 Separate Collisions At The Same Crossing
operate between Orlando and Miami and hold the unwelcome distinction of being both the first intra-city high speed rail in the U.S. and the , by far. After three people died at a single grade crossing in two separate incidents last week it seems the feds are finally perking...
May 5, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved