Pilot Falls Unconscious Mid-Flight, so Passenger Takes Over With ‘No Idea How to Fly,’ Lands Plane Along Florida Coast

Pilot Falls Unconscious Mid-Flight, so Passenger Takes Over With ‘No Idea How to Fly,’ Lands Plane Along Florida Coast
pisaphotography/Shutterstock; Inset: WPTV/LIVEATC.NET via AP
The Associated Press
Updated:

A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers.

“I’ve got a serious situation here,” the man said Tuesday afternoon, May 10, according to audio on LiveATC.net, a website that broadcasts and archives air traffic controller communications. “My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”