Passenger with No Flight Experience Lands Plane After Pilot Becomes ‘Incoherent’

[Anti Federalist]

Danke?

Where the hell is that guy?

@Danke

Passenger with No Flight Experience Lands Plane After Pilot Becomes ‘Incoherent’

https://www.breitbart.com/local/2022...es-incoherent/

NICK GILBERTSON 11 May 2022

A man with no flight experience successfully landed a plane at Palm Beach International Airport (PBIA) Tuesday afternoon after the pilot became “incoherent” due what appeared to be a medical issue.

The Federal Aviation Association (FAA) said the stressful situation unfolded aboard a single-engine Cessna 208 around 12:30 p.m., WPTV reported.

“I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane,” the passenger told Fort Pierce air traffic control (ATC), according to a transcript of the exchange shared by WPBF.

“I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea,” the passenger said when asked about his position.

ATC at Fort Pierce instructed the passenger to begin a slow descent while holding the wings level.

The passenger informed ATC at Fort Pierce that he was descending at 500 feet per minute, and personnel at the tower instructed him to stop his descent at 5,000 feet. As ATC attempted to locate the plane, the passenger was directed to follow the coastline northbound or southbound.

The Fort Pierce ATC eventually notified the man that the ATC at PBIA had located him some 20 miles east of Boca Raton. The tower instructed the man to fly at 5,000 feet northbound along the coastline and provided him with a phone number to call so he could get in contact with someone who could help him maneuver the plane.

Eventually, Fort Pierce ATC informed the man that he would be online with the Palm Beach ATC over the radio frequency shortly, and that personnel would direct him to land the plane at the West Palm Beach airport. The radio then went silent.

Robert Morgan, an air traffic controller at PBIA who has two decades of tower experience and 1,200 hours of flight instruction experience, was reading a book on his break when he was alerted to the situation, WPBF reported. Having never flown the plane model the passenger was flying, Morgan pulled up an image of the cockpit to better understand what the man was dealing with.

“I knew the plane was flying like any other plane, I just knew I had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land,” Morgan told WPBF.

Working with the air traffic controller, the passenger successfully landed the Cessna.

“You just witnessed a couple of passengers land that plane,” an air traffic controller said over the radio, according to audio from liveatc.net. He added, “They did a great job.” CNN reports that the controller made the comment to an American Airlines pilot awaiting take-off.

“Passengers landed the airplane?” the pilot asked. “Oh my gosh, great job.”

Morgan and the passenger who landed the plane shared an embrace after the landing, and the passenger informed the air traffic controller that he was heading home to be with his pregnant wife, CNN noted.

The FAA said there were only two people on the plane and did not identify the pilot or passenger, nor did it provide an update on the pilot’s condition, WPBF noted. It did report that the pilot possibly suffered a medical issue, according to CNN.

[TheTexan]

Situations like this is why I re-certify on MSFS every few years. In case this happens.

[TheTexan]

MSFS experience is also good if you find yourself on a Russian air base and need to steal a mig to get away.

[TheTexan]

“I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent.

Possible a woman pilot? Being incoherent is very common with female pilots.

[oyarde]

Just use my rule of thumb . If Danke can do it so can you .

[Anti Globalist]

Good thing it wasn't me attempting to do this. I would have crashed the plane and everyone on board would have died.

[Anti Federalist]

Good thing it wasn't me attempting to do this. I would have crashed the plane and everyone on board would have died.

The Cessna Grand Caravan that they were flying has an all "glass" cockpit.



It also has an advanced autopilot system.

They were under ideal VFR conditions, so I imagine they had him set up the autopilot and automated flight controls, enter vectors and heading in by hand dialing to get him set up at PBI and then chopped power and increased flaps to maintain descent rate, having him take over on final.

[pcosmar]

why "Don't Panic" is my favorite quote.

You are "Here".

[dannno]

Possible a woman pilot? Being incoherent is very common with female pilots.

Smart money is on the vaccine.

[sparebulb]

Believe me, any idiot can do it.

Take a look at who is in the pointy end of an airliner these days.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

That pilot best not expect to be flying again anytime soon.

[luctor-et-emergo]

They were under ideal VFR conditions, so I imagine they had him set up the autopilot and automated flight controls, enter vectors and heading in by hand dialing to get him set up at PBI and then chopped power and increased flaps to maintain descent rate, having him take over on final.

I think the VFR part is what made it possible or at least much more likely to succeed. How much interest did this person have in flying or airplanes ?

[TheTexan]

The Cessna Grand Caravan that they were flying has an all "glass" cockpit.



It also has an advanced autopilot system.

They were under ideal VFR conditions, so I imagine they had him set up the autopilot and automated flight controls, enter vectors and heading in by hand dialing to get him set up at PBI and then chopped power and increased flaps to maintain descent rate, having him take over on final.

My guess is they just guided him in over radio.

If he's gonna take over on final anyway (the "hard" part) then there's not much point to using autopilot when he has ATC guiding him in.

I say "hard" because I find absolutely none of this impressive.
The hard thing about landing a plane is getting lined up correctly to the runway with the right speed and altitude. With ATC guiding you in, and a sufficiently long runway, it's pretty hard to $#@! that up.

Maybe if this were under IFR I'd be impressed.

[jmdrake]

Good thing it wasn't me attempting to do this. I would have crashed the plane and everyone on board would have died.

9/11 scenario reported.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

Probably a hundred years ago people flew planes without experience. If you could afford one fly one. Same with driving cars. The song Signs came on the other day and it made me think how people complained about something and wanted the government to step in to make it right. People were oppressed by private business or landowners or... so they went to the government to make things fair. Now the government is the oppressor.

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

Did this guy get a ticket/fine for operating a plane without a license?

[sparebulb]

Did this guy get a ticket/fine for operating a plane without a license?

Funny you should say that.

After 9/11, a pilot friend of mine, who is also a physician and a lawyer, expressed outrage about how the alleged 9/11 pilots where flying the airliners without proper credentials.

Also, he is joo- ish and from NYC.

He's a great guy, but his religious, political, and professional programming is complete from top to bottom.

[Occam's Banana]

HOW did a PASSENGER Land this AIRCRAFT?!
On the 10 May 2022, after a fishing trip in the Bahamas, a Cessna Grand Caravan is travelling back to the United States when the pilot passes out at 10,000 feet. One of the passengers on board, Darren Harrison, who has no flight experience takes control of the situation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-W2cnnLSTM

[TheTexan]

I think the VFR part is what made it possible or at least much more likely to succeed. How much interest did this person have in flying or airplanes ?

I don't think IFR would have been much different. This was pretty much an instrument landing anyway, with precision guidance over radio from ATC.

The dude may have been more likely to panic in an IFR situation, but otherwise, from his side, it would have been exactly the same. Just follow instructions, and when you see the runway, manage your descent.

The dude didnt even need to use flaps. ez pz

[luctor-et-emergo]

I don't think IFR would have been much different. This was pretty much an instrument landing anyway, with precision guidance over radio from ATC.

The dude may have been more likely to panic in an IFR situation, but otherwise, from his side, it would have been exactly the same. Just follow instructions, and when you see the runway, manage your descent.

The dude didnt even need to use flaps. ez pz

Do not underestimate the ability to verify your orientation in psychology. Trust me, I've been around clouds with no artificial horizon. We only had to dive through the cloud layer with full speed brakes on, but after a couple of seconds already, you've completely lost your orientation. Having an instrument but a lack of ability to read it, would not make things much better I imagine.

Also, navigation in airplanes does not work like the navigation in your car. It also takes time to relay information from the tower to the 'new' pilot and time to understand what is happening... If confusion occurs at some point, problems will start to compound. If you're a trained pilot, you know the priorities pretty well, as a novice, supported by radio, who knows where the attention may go.

[TheTexan]

Do not underestimate the ability to verify your orientation in psychology. Trust me, I've been around clouds with no artificial horizon. We only had to dive through the cloud layer with full speed brakes on, but after a couple of seconds already, you've completely lost your orientation. Having an instrument but a lack of ability to read it, would not make things much better I imagine.

As long as he knows how to read the attitude indicator he's fine.

Also, navigation in airplanes does not work like the navigation in your car. It also takes time to relay information from the tower to the 'new' pilot and time to understand what is happening... If confusion occurs at some point, problems will start to compound. If you're a trained pilot, you know the priorities pretty well, as a novice, supported by radio, who knows where the attention may go.

I don't think you understand how efficient it is to guide over radio. ATC is using radar enabled precision instruments to provide very simple instructions to the pilot.

It's exactly the same as IFR. Except instead of reading the instruments, the ATC is reading it for you. It is more efficient than old-school IFR. (less efficient than autopilot but not significantly, in terms of timing, precision)

ATC does radar assisted landings thousands of times a day. They do it because it makes things stupid easy for the pilot. (With complex rules on their side for avoiding collisions)

Modern aviation is designed to be stupid easy for the pilots as much as possible.

Or you would see a lot more accidents.

[Occam's Banana]

This is for a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet, not a dinky little Cessna turboprop, but still relevant and interesting.

How YOU can land a passenger aircraft! 12 steps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePDl1JNqjpM

[pcosmar]

I think the VFR part is what made it possible or at least much more likely to succeed. How much interest did this person have in flying or airplanes ?

I am sure they had great interest in Not Crashing an airplane.