Posted on 10/09/2013 5:38:44 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
A pilot who fell ill at the controls of a light aircraft, leaving a passenger to land the plane, has died, Humberside police say.
The plane had taken off from a small airfield in Doncaster, about 25 miles away, early on Tuesday morning, carrying just the pilot and the passenger. The pilot made a distress call at 6.20pm and shortly afterwards became so ill that the responsibility of landing the plane fell to the passenger, who had never flown a plane before.
Roy Murray assisted the passenger after he took over the controls. He told the BBC: "He made quite a good landing, actually. He didn't know the layout of the aeroplane. He didn't have lights on so he was absolutely flying blind as well.
"I think he'd flown once before as a passenger but never flown an aeroplane before."
He said he was conscious of making sure that the man did not panic during the landing procedure. Without instruction, Murray said, the man probably "would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it". Murray described it as a "fantastic feeling" having helped to save the passenger's life. The plane landed safely on its fourth attempt, prompting cheers in the airport control room, said Murray. The airport, in north Lincolnshire, had put in place its emergency plan, involving police and fire crews.
Stuart Sykes told the BBC he had witnessed the aircraft land shortly before 8pm. "It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down. I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt," he said.
"There were a few sparks and three or four crashes, that must have been the propeller hitting the floor. Then it uprighted again and came to a stop."
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Any landing you can walk away from!
Apparently he had the fish ...
Does anybody know how to fly a plane?
Planes fly themselves, the trick is to make them go where you want them to go.
Sorta like the story told in this song about Eli, the Schooner Captain, who was a passenger on a plane when the pilot and co pilot became sick and flew it into Gander, Newfoundland:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96iMVMXsgyk
Great story, great song, great photos.
the article lauds the tower while glossing over the passengers ability and cool head
You will soon see, if you follow this thread
There are just some films that are required viewing
A great landing is one where they can use the airplane again.
“Does anybody know how to fly a plane?”
I bet if push came to shove, I could fly it. Now.. don’t ask me to parallel park the darn thing. All bets are off then!!
:)
Yes.
Any landing you can walk away from!
______________
is a good landing!
Landing a plane is like acting—anybody can do it.
“Any landing you can walk away from!
______________
is a good landing!”
If you can reuse the airplane it is a great landing.
I can’t even park my car in the garage without hitting something.
If you can reuse the airplane it is a great landing.
______________________
Absolutely!
Something like this happened in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, but there the pilot just knocked himself out. Mickey Rooney and Buddy Hackett rose to the occasion.
the trick to flying is...
avoiding the ground
must have been the propeller hitting the floor.
Was he trying to land in the house?
Baah reporters!
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