Following a medical emergency, a passenger with no formal flying experience landed a small plane in Florida. With the assistance of air traffic controllers, the passenger was able to land the plane. Sure, this sounds like something straight out of a movie, but it isn’t.
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As per reports, the single-engine Cessna 208 touched down at Palm Beach International Airport at 12:30 p.m. ET. The jet had taken off from Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, one hour and a half before the miraculous landing.
The passenger told air traffic controllers that the pilot had “gone incoherent” and asserted that it was a “serious situation”. According to CNN, Air Traffic Controller Robert Morgan, a certified flight instructor, was on a break when the call came in from the plane.
I rush over there and I walk in and the room is really busy… and they’re like, ‘Hey, this pilot’s incapacitated. The passengers are flying the plane. They have no flying experience’.
-Morgan to CNN
Morgan discovered that the caller had never flown a plane but had been around aviation and seen other pilots fly. Reportedly, the flying instructor had also never flown this model of Cessna before. However, he found a picture of the instrument panel’s structure and began walking his new learner through each step.
Morgan was greeted by his new student when the Cessna landed, who gave him a big hug and expressed his gratitude.
A statement from the Federal Aviation Administration claimed that a pilot and two passengers were aboard the plane. As per the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, after the plane landed, one patient was transferred to a local hospital.
Meanwhile, the identity of the plane’s current operator is unknown. The event is being looked into by the FAA.