A passenger safely landed a Cessna 208 Caravan after his pilot went unconscious thanks to the help of an air-traffic controller who is also a certified flight instructor.
Multiple media outlets have reported on the Tuesday incident in Jupiter, Florida. West Palm Beach TV station WPBF obtained video showing the landing.
In a recording broadcast on Live ATC, the passenger radios the Fort Pierce (1FL) air traffic control tower reporting a “serious situation,” where a controller instructs the man to try to keep the wings level and to slowly descend to 5,000 feet.
“Try to follow the coast either north or southbound,” the controller said. “We’re trying to locate you.”
The passenger is then instructed to call a cell phone number.
From there, 20-year-veteran air traffic controller Robert Morgan guided the passenger through the landing, even though Morgan said he has never flown a Cessna 208. He located a photo of the instrument panel to help talk the passenger through it.
“I knew the plane was flying like any other plane,” Morgan told CNN. “I just had to keep him calm, point him to the runway, and tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land.”
The plane landed smoothly at Palm Beach International Airport (PBI).
“I just feel like it was probably meant to happen,” he said.
“I just feel like it was probably meant to happen,” he said.
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