Passenger lands plane after pilot dies

[radhak]

I bet that would have been scary :

Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies

[Uncle Cracker]

Thank God there was a passenger on board with at least single-engine experience. The KingAir is a big plane, but handles "smaller" than it really is. All on board (with the obvious exception of the primary pilot) were very fortunate this day.

[cgallery]

Thank God he already knew how to fly on a single-engine plane.

I'm pretty good at crashing in Flight Simulator from MS. So I don't think I'd have done as well.

[radhak]

I daresay that's the difference between this report and what could have been :
a plane crashed, 7 people aboard killed, nobody knows what happened, months of speculation...

not that I am a regular on such microplanes, but the next time I'm gonna poll my fellow passengers - anybody here ready to take over in case the pilot wants to go the restroom

[LCHIEN]

Flying a plane is not hard, it's the way you land that can kill you.

[BobSch]

They're lucky it was a plane somewhat the same as the passenger was used to. I know, a KA is twin-turbo prop, not a Cessna 172, but can you imagine if it had been a Boeing 7-series commercial jet?

The passenger who took over deserves a lot of credit and a nice note in his logbook.

[L. D. Jeffries]

The old saying is: "Landings seperate boy pilots from men pilots"

[jackellis]

King Airs land like any other airplane. You need to know the speeds for deploying flaps, deploying the gear, and flying the final approach.

IMHO the difficulty is mostly psychological.

[radhak]

slightly more details here : http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/13/flo...ane.emergency/

[docrowan]

I'm curious to know who the passengers were. I lived in Jackson, MS for 8 years, so it's possible I would know them. I know about half a dozen people from there with single engine pilot's licenses.

[Ed62]

Now I finally understand why I don't fly.

Ed

[leehljp]

Now I finally understand why I don't fly.

Ed

Well just thanks! I have 7000 miles coming up Thursday!

I remember something like this happening 4 or 5 years ago, maybe before that. A passenger withOUT flying experience took over when the pilot had a heart attack or died, said passenger landed the plane safely.

[radhak]

I'm curious to know who the passengers were. I lived in Jackson, MS for 8 years, so it's possible I would know them. I know about half a dozen people from there with single engine pilot's licenses.

Full story now out : http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...kzpCAD97HTVCG0. Makes for a nice read.

Pilot was Joe Cabuk, while the pinch-hitter-pilot was Doug White.

[crokett]

This article says Doug White's family was onboard the plane as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/14/pla...ncy/index.html

[Kristofor]

Well, the Mythbusters managed to land a (simulated) commecial jet with someone talking them through it.

I figure if both of those two (both the goofy one and walrus face) can do it at least 40% of people could in the real world and maybe 80% in a simulator...