Passenger with NO experience lands airplane on Florida runway after pilot fell unconscious

A plane passenger with no flying experience safely landed a Cessna light aircraft with the help of an air traffic controller after the pilot suffered a medical emergency and fell unconscious.

The unnamed passenger, who was heading home to see his pregnant wife, was flying in the Cessna 208 Caravan from the Bahamas to Florida on Tuesday afternoon when the drama began.

‘I’ve got a serious situation here,’ the passenger can be heard telling air traffic control in Fort Pierce, while flying over the Florida coastline around 70 miles north of his destination.

‘My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.’

Air traffic control replied: ‘Roger. What’s your position?’

The passenger said: ‘I have no idea. I can see the coast of Florida in front of me. And I have no idea.’

But somehow, with the help of air traffic control, the passenger remained incredibly calm and expertly brought the Cessna into land at Palm Peach International Airport, despite never having sat behind the controls of an aircraft before.

An aviation expert told CNN it is not uncommon for small turboprop airplanes such as the Cessna 208 Caravan to fly with only one pilot, particularly when the flights are private. 

An FAA spokesperson confirmed they were investigating the incident and said the pilot suffered a ‘possible medical issue’ – though did not provide further details on his condition. 

The audibly shocked air traffic controller in Fort Pierce told the passenger that he would try and locate the plane when the emergency call came through over his radio.

‘Maintain wings level and just try to follow the coast, either north or southbound,’ the controller said.

‘We’re trying to locate you.’

For the next four minutes, audio showed the passenger remained remarkably calm as he tried to work out what to do and wait for the air traffic controller to find his aircraft. 

‘Have you guys located me yet?’ he asked after a while.

‘I can’t even get my nav screen to turn on. It has all the information on it. You guys have any ideas on that?’

The man was eventually found flying off the coast of Boca Raton, and air traffic control at Palm Beach airport managed to talk him down, guiding him how to land the plane. 

A source told ABC News the controller working at Palm Beach was a certified flight instructor, with experience working with Cessna aircrafts.

This was later confirmed to local news outlets by the controller himself, Robert Morgan, who printed out a layout of the cockpit, and used it to guide the passenger through the steps of flying and landing the plane.

Morgan has worked as an air traffic controller for 20 years and is an FAA certified flight instructor with around 1200 hours of flying time under his belt.

‘I just feel like it was probably meant to happen,’ he said, mentioning that he was outside on a break reading a book when the emergency call came in.

‘I knew the plane was flying like any other plane. 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.

‘Before I knew it, he was like, ”I’m on the ground. How do I turn this thing off?”. 

Morgan told local news he ran out to meet the passenger and hugged on the tarmac.

‘It felt really good to help somebody, and he told me that he was going to go home tonight to see his pregnant wife.’

The landing was a little wobbly, but ultimately safe and successful according to air traffic control, who were clearly astounded at the passenger’s ability to settle the plane on the runway with no prior experience whatsoever.

‘You just witnessed a couple passengers land that plane,’ the dumbfounded air traffic controller said over the radio.

Another pilot on the runway said: ‘Did you say the passengers landed the plane?’

‘That’s correct,’ control responded.

‘Oh, my gosh. Great job!’

The pilot. who remained unconscious was taken to the hospital as a result of the unknown illness. His condition remains unknown.

Justin Dalmolin, a JetBlue pilot, was told to delay his takeoff to give the unnamed Cessna passenger space and time to land the plane.

‘The level of difficulty that this person had to deal with in terms of having zero flight time to fly and land a single engine turbine aircraft is absolutely incredible,’ said an amazed Dalmolin.

He told ABC 25: ‘The incredible part is not just flying the aircraft but obviously the most difficult thing which is configuring the aircraft for approach and landing. And then landing it, and that to me, for a zero time pilot.

‘I remember my first days when I first started flight training, I was white-knuckled and sweating for my first ten hours of training.’

Dalmolin said it was lucky it was daylight so the passenger at the wheel could see where he was going because it would have been extremely difficult if it the saga had unfolded overnight or in heavy fog.

‘You know it’s nothing short of a miracle and I’m really glad for them and their families they had such a great outcome,’ said Dalmolin.

John Nance, an aviation expert, told ABC 25 that the landing of such a complex plane by someone without any flying history was a remarkable feat.

‘This is the first time I’ve ever heard of one of these being landed by somebody that has no aeronautical experience,’ Nance said.

‘The person on the airplane who had no aeronautical experience listened very carefully and obviously followed instructions with great calm.

‘That’s what made the difference.’

Do you know the brave passenger who landed the plane? Contact newsUS@dailymail.com