Passenger with no flight experience lands plane at Florida airport
A passenger with no flight experience safely landed a private plane at a Florida airport this Tuesday, May 10, when the pilot became incapacitated, CNN reported.
As the situation unfolded, the passenger can be heard telling air traffic control that he doesn’t know how to fly the plane, according to audio from LiveATC.net.
“I have a serious situation here,” the unidentified passenger said in the audio. “My pilot has become incoherent and I have no idea how to fly the plane.”
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An air traffic controller then began giving the passenger instructions to land the plane, according to the audio, which eventually touched down at Palm Beach International Airport in Florida.
“Try to keep the wings level and see if you can start descending for me. Push forward on the controls and descend at a very slow rate,” the air traffic controller is heard saying.
“Try to follow the coast north or south. We are trying to locate you.”
In additional audio captured by LiveATC.net, another air traffic controller can be heard telling other aircraft what was happening.
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“You just witnessed a couple of passengers landing on that plane,” the tower operator can be heard telling an American Airlines pilot waiting to take off for Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Did you say the passengers landed the plane?” the American Airlines pilot asked. “Oh, my goodness. Great job,” he said.
Two people were aboard the single-engine Cessna 208 when the pilot had a “possible medical issue,” the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The pilot’s condition is unknown.
The FAA is investigating.
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