An inexperienced passenger landed a private plane safely at Florida airport on Tuesday after the pilot had a medical problem, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The plane, a single-engine Cessna 208, landed at about 12:30 at Palm Beach International Airport, the FAA reported. The plane took off from Marsh Harbor in the Bahamas an hour and a half earlier, according to Flight Aware, a flight tracking website.
Only three people were on board, the pilot and two passengers, the FAA said. Their names were not disclosed.
Air traffic control audio was recorded minutes before landing when one of the passengers was forced to take control during the flight.
“I have a serious situation here,” said the passenger of a tower controller in Fort Pierce, Florida, according to audio archived on LiveATC.net. “My pilot has become inconsistent and I have no idea how to fly the plane.
The passenger also said he did not know where the plane was.
“I see the coast of Florida in front of me and I have no idea,” said the passenger, who was also trying to turn on the navigation system.
During a nearly 10-minute exchange, the air traffic controller steered the passenger, then about 20 miles east of Boca Raton, telling him to keep his wings level, follow the shoreline, and try to land slowly. He then took over air traffic control at Palm Beach International Airport.
Robert Morgan, the air traffic controller who said he helped the passenger land the plane successfully in Palm Beach, described the experience in an interview with local news station WPBF.
“I knew the plane was flying like any other plane, I just knew I had to keep it calm, steer it to the runway and tell it how to reduce power so it could land before landing,” Mr Morgan said. .
Mr Morgan, an experienced air traffic controller and flight instructor, told WPBF that he had never flown a Cessna 208 before. Instead, he relied on cockpit images he found online.
“Before I knew it, he said, ‘I’m on earth, how can I rule this out?’ Mr Morgan told the WPBF. He hugged the passenger when he arrived on the runway.
Federal aviation laws require at least 40 hours of flight time to become a private pilot in a single-engine class, including at least 10 hours of solo flight and multiple take-offs and landings.
The owner of the Cessna 208 is a Delaware-registered limited liability company, according to FAA records, which is investigating. The corporation could not be reached for comment.
A patient was transported to a district hospital after the emergency landing, the Palm Beach County Fire Department told CBS.
Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.
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