Tell whoever responds that the pilot is unconscious and that you have no experience flying an airplane.ħ. On the control panel, you’ll see your airplane’s tail number, which starts with an “N.” Press the PTT button, say, “Mayday, Mayday,” and provide the tail number. Release the button to receive a message back (like using a walkie-talkie).Ħ. Find the “push to talk” button (PTT) on the top of the yoke to contact the nearest control tower. If the autopilot is turned on, keep it on.ĥ. Level off the airplane by gently pulling the yoke (to aim the nose up) or pushing forward on the yoke (to aim the nose down). If you are above 12,000 feet, put on the pilot’s oxygen mask (located behind the pilot’s seat).ģ. Put on the pilot’s headset and fasten your seatbelt. There might also be a copilot’s seat, and you can reach all the controls from there as well.Ģ. Tunstill offers the following advice if your pilot becomes incapacitated:ġ. Petersburg, Florida, which helps to support the operation of about 244 flights per day, 78 percent of which involve single-engine aircraft. He is also chairman of the Albert Whitted Airport Advisory Committee in St. Pete Air and has had his pilot’s license since 1978. ![]() Jack Tunstill is a senior certified flight instructor for St. Meanwhile, once you contact an air traffic controller, the folks there will guide you every step of the way. There will be plenty of time to lose your composure after you’ve safely landed. Take a Deep Breathįirst, while it may be easier said than done, it’s important to take a deep breath and keep your wits about you. If you’re ever in a similar situation, your odds of surviving will increase if you can remember to do a few basic tasks. These include a July 2023 incident when a 68-year-old woman managed to crash-land a single-engine 2006 Piper Meridian on Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. ![]() How often does a passenger have to land an airplane after a pilot collapses? Quite rarely. Still, emergencies happen and, since 2000, there have been at least six times when inexperienced passengers have had to land a small aircraft. The pilot later underwent successful emergency heart surgery to repair a tear in his aorta. At that point, he broke down sobbing, saying a prayer of thanks for the safe landing that allowed him to return home to his wife, who was six months pregnant. With step-by-step instructions from Morgan, Harrison managed to land without a scratch on the airplane or himself, the other passenger, or the incapacitated pilot. He also works as a flight instructor and was familiar with the Cessna 208. It took him about 20 minutes to figure out how to radio the nearest control tower to report what was going on and ask for help.Īt Palm Beach International Airport, air traffic controller Robert Morgan was on a break and reading a book when he was paged to return to the tower. Having flown before in small jets while asking the pilots lots of questions, Harrison, 39, knew he had only minutes to level out the aircraft. "I remembered that if I yanked the stick too hard, at the speed we were going, the wings would rip off the plane or the motor would stall," he later told news outlets (though this would, in fact, have caused an aerodynamic stall that wouldn't have affected the engine). "So, I slowly, gently pulled the stick back and a moment later thought, 'Wow! We're going up.'"Īfter moving the pilot from his seat and putting on a headset, Harrison located a compass that showed he was heading south instead of north, and he turned the airplane around toward Florida. I've got a headache, and everything is fuzzy." A moment later, he passed out and the airplane was in a descent, heading toward the water. ![]() Suddenly, the 64-year-old pilot, Ken Allen, announced, "Guys, I gotta tell you, I don't feel right. Darren Harrison of Lakeland, Florida, was relaxing in the cabin of a single-engine Cessna 208 Grand Caravan with his bare feet up on a table, heading home in May 2022 after a fishing trip in the Bahamas.
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