Chill Stu P., the guy (guided pilot flying) is an interior designer and was wearing flip-flops. CNN got the “Certificated” correct. Best quote; “It was meant to happen.” No flat tires. Good enough for me!
Aren’t we a jaded bunch. Too bad even general aviation has completely lost our innocence.
I too think the guy was way too calm on the radio and keeping the airplane straight down the runway without knowing about the brakes is… well…
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I’m saddened to see AvWeb use a link from disgraceful CNN. AvWeb, you can do better.
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About 40 years ago, I was flying somewhere over northern OH. Even tho it wasn’t fashionable back then, I was guarding 121.5. A woman’s panicked voice came over the radio. The pilot had slumped over in flight. (I don’t know how she knew to come up on 121.5. But this wasn’t a stunt.)
The Controller found a Mooney on IFR nearby (thankfully it was a VFR day) who agreed to be vector’d to the plane. He flew loose formation with her and steered her toward final to some airport.
I was waiting to hear how they were going to talk her through a landing. Fortunately, the pilot revived on long final. (I remember the Controller saying “I’m can’t tell you how glad I am to hear your voice.”)
Apparently they landed safely. I never heard a new report about the almost-accident.
- Most of us Instructors probably fantasize about successfully talking someone down in a similar situation. It’s not very easy.
Later in life, I tried to teach a few wives to land (in 3 hours) via the “Pitch Hitter” program. What a disaster. It would have been better if I had taught them to solo in 8. (I wouldn’t have lessons on Preflight; very little Practice area stuff (no stalls), no steep turns; etc. Mostly pattern work.)
Even when you’re sitting in the left seat, telling a neophyte what to do in real time, the best that one can hope for is a controlled crash that’s survivable. And that’s in the best conditions: super long wide runway (2 miles), no cross wind, no gusts, no night approaching, etc.
- “I have no idea how to stop the airplane.”
This is exactly what I thought about when I started thinking “How would I handle this?.”
First, trying to teach someone over the radio how to use brakes and rudder pedals to steer ain’t going to work. (It takes most new students about 5 to 10 minutes to get the hang of it during a first lesson.) So you’re going to have to have a Pitch Hitter land without steering and braking.
But, second, if they don’t know how to shut off the engine, the airplane might idle down the runway forever.
Even today, the Pitch Hitter syllabus only says to “close the throttle.”
aopa.org/-/media/Files/AOPA/Home/Training-and-Safety/Safety-Spotlights/Pinch-Hitter/PH-Syllabus-2020.pdf I think it better to have them shut the fuel off on short final, to help avoid a fire.
I’ve never flown a Caravan, so had to read about how to turn off the fuel. Okay, a well thought out airplane, easy for pilots. But how to you talk someone about how to move the lever past the detent? (Do you flick left or right?) And do you brief them about this on final (where they will forget, just as I forgot to pull the fake ripcord on my first parachute jump), or once on the runway?
Apparently the Pitch Hitter here managed to turn the fuel off, because the prop is stopped in the footage.
Maybe the Controller told him. (I haven’t heard the whole tape.) But if he didn’t, then this story sounds too good to be true.
First lesson to the “Pinch Hitter” candidate in an aviation emergency? Move disable pilot’s head out of the way!
I see two issues here,
1 - Another incident where the pilot simply passes out. Too many accidents looking back the last year with no real explanation why they got incapacitated. The Vaccination with Thrombosis as one of the most common “side affects” may to be blamed here. I know more people suffering from side affects than of people who suffered from the actual C.
2 - Without having the full conversation to follow, it is impossible to tell what really went on. Most likely the Caravan was on autopilot. With a good instructor / controller, using the heading bug, the altitude hold diengaged and carefully managing the power, I could see how to get a caravan down on a big airport.
Autolanding with autopilot and Garmin equipment is already a reality with more complex aircraft. The 208 more or less slammed on the runway and it will need a nose gear inspection after this high speed touch down with no flaps. Future will show if this was just another stunt or a real emergency. Hope to hear about how the pilot is doing and what the cause of his “passing out” was.
Not good enough for me Raf S. It just doesn’t add up no matter what kind of math you care to use. It just doesn’t even come close. That’s just the way I see it Raf.
Yeah. While the Pinch Hitter (thanks for pointing out my mistake on the earlier misspelling - I don’t follow baseball and have been calling it “Pitch Hitter” since Day One) is a nice thought, it’s not really practical. As you pointed out, the pilot’s body might be jamming the controls. And I don’t know how to simulate that.
And even if I had managed to teach someone how to land competently, they would probably forget it all as quickly as they learned it, since they didn’t review it periodically.
Yeah but how long does it take to explain the autopilot, heading bug, turning it? Just think about asking a non-pilot (or even a pilot who only knows steam) to confirm what mode it’s in. There’s just too much to explain over the radio/telephone. How did he hook up the telephone to the audio system? I wanna believe but it’s very hard too. Can’t wait for Bertorelli to get a video of this up in the site.
IF this were a setup, on paper they picked the right plane- single lever, stable, fixed gear.
Out of the spotlight and nameless sadly sounds fishy for the “untrained pilot” who could use radios, upset recover a big high-wing and land in less than an hour undamaged.
“10-4” could be a great cover. Had a blind “date” once where I was pretending to NOT be a pilot on a “discovery” flight- it was hard to pretend how to not taxi when offerred- had to cover by swiping the mixture and kill the engine.
Will Cessna/Textron pay him for the “Discovery Flight”?
FOIA the cell phone conversation context- as an instructor it impresses me they were able to get on a runway undamaged- C208 pilots thoughts?
Props to the controller.
Well, it looks like Darren Harrison, a cool and collected passenger with no flight experience, and air-traffic controller/CFI Robert Morgan, gathered effectively to a safe landing. Congratulations to all for the save. Finita la speculazione!