EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY! CAN YOU HEAR ME?
...THIS MY FIRST FLYING LESSON, AND MY INSTRUCTOR HAS PASSED OUT!
Max Sylvester is flying at 6,200 feet when the most dramatic 45 minutes of his life begin. The audio of his conversation with the air traffic controller shows several heroes at work…
Max Sylvester is now almost an hour into his flight and flying at about 6,200 feet. The student pilot’s heart is no longer pounding and he can feel the tension in his muscles relax as he looks down on the gleaming Indian Ocean off the coast of Perth in Western Australia. The single engine of the Cessna 152 is throbbing peacefully. Fascinated by the incredible view, the 29-year-old pilot is finally beginning to enjoy his flying lesson when he feels a dull blow to his shoulder. As he turns, he sees it’s the head of his instructor, Robert Mollard, who has just passed out cold with no warning. Suddenly Sylvester’s heart is pounding far more than before as the adrenaline floods his system. He shakes Mollard’s body but gets no response. Right away he reaches for the radio: “Emergency, Emergency, Emergency! This is Tango, Foxtrot, Romeo—can you hear me? My flight instructor has passed out!”
EMERGENCY AT 6,200 FEET
The young man, who has never flown a plane on his own, let alone landed one, is now in command of a Cessna 152 flying at 6,200 feet above Perth, a city of more than 2 million people. Down on the ground, the air traffic controller is immediately and keenly aware of the danger Sylvester faces. The situation is life-threatening—not just for Sylvester and his instructor, but also for potentially hundreds of people on the ground.
“Tango, Foxtrot, Romeo, I can hear you. Do you know how to operate the airplane?” Sylvester replies honestly: “Very, very little. It’s my first lesson. And my instructor is leaning against my shoulder. I’m trying to keep him upright, but he keeps falling over.”
Sylvester had, in fact, taken two flight lessons before, but never with this aircraft, and he’d never tried to land. The response comes in a calm voice: “Your job right now is just to keep focusing on that aircraft,” says the tower. “We’re tracking you. I know this is very stressful, but we’re going to help you get down to the ground.” As the tower tells him what to do next, Sylvester can feel his initial panic start giving way to focused concentration. The air traffic controller has quickly brought someone experienced with the Cessna to the tower. Sylvester is familiar with the instruments in theory, but now an expert will explain them to him in detail.
With guidance from the tower, Sylvester circles Perth’s Jandakot Airport for almost an hour, practicing approaches and trying to get a feel for what lies ahead. “You are doing an amazing job,” says the tower. “Just keep an eye on your speed, so that you’re not going into the red too much. Keep those wings level and keep your nose nice and level on the horizon.” Watching it all with bated breath as Sylvester makes his approach are his wife and three children. As he nears the end of the runway, the tower calls out: “Power off, power off, power off. Raise the nose gently, and you’re down on the ground.” Then: “You did it, mate. Well done!”
The flight school’s owner, Chuck Mcelwee, is pleased as well: “There was no damage to the plane. Matter of fact, it was a perfect landing.” The instructor is in stable condition and is taken to a hospital. Sylvester’s wife and kids, who watched as the drama unfolded, are absolutely thrilled to have their husband and father back safe and sound. Sylvester himself is visibly relieved, elated, and proud: “If I hadn’t studied, I wouldn’t be here,” he says. And the experience has not dampened his enthusiasm for flying at all: “Of course I’ll be flying again. You have to, because you must show your kids that when you encounter a problem like this, you’ve got to just power through.”
“My instructor is leaning against my shoulder. I’m trying to keep him upright, but he keeps falling over.” MAX SYLVESTER, student pilot