KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 ― A passenger without flying experience landed a small plane at a Florida airport on Tuesday after the pilot was rendered “incoherent” by a medical emergency.
The passenger, travelling on the single-engine Cessna 208, had relied on air traffic control to guide his landing at Palm Beach International Airport, some 68 miles (110 kilometres) north of Miami, AFP reported quoting NBC news channel.
According to the news channel, officials at Fort Pierce, north of Palm Beach had received an emergency call around noon on Tuesday from the passenger, saying, “I've got a serious situation here.”
“My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”
Asked for his position, the passenger said, “I have no idea” but that he could see the Florida coastline.
“Maintain wings level and just try to follow the coast, either north or southbound,” the air traffic official told him, assuring that they are trying to locate him.
Air traffic controller Robert Morgan said his experience as a flight instructor helped him guide the passenger, whose name has not been released, as he landed the plane.
This is brand new video (courtesy of Jeff Chandler) of a passenger landing a plane today at PBIA.
— Ari Hait (@wpbf_ari) May 11, 2022
His pilot had passed out, and the passenger with zero flight experience was forced to land the plane.
Team coverage of this amazing landing is on @WPBF25News at 11. pic.twitter.com/jFLIlTp6Zs
“He was very calm, he just said, 'hey, I just don't know how to fly, you know, I don't know how to stop this thing if I do get it on the runway,” Morgan told CNN.
Morgan said he felt like crying because he had so much adrenaline built up after the incident, adding that the passenger gave him a hug and thanked him for helping him get safely back to his pregnant wife.
The condition of the pilot or the nature of the medical emergency was not immediately released, but Palm Beach Fire Rescue said a patient was transported to a hospital after the plane touched down.
