Passenger, with ‘no idea how to fly,’ lands plane

WEST PALM BEACH, FLA. » A passenger with no flying experience radioed an urgent plea for help when the pilot of a small plane suddenly fell ill off Florida’s Atlantic coast, and he was able to land the plane safely with the help of air traffic controllers.

“I’ve got a serious situation here,” the man said Tuesday afternoon, according to audio on LIVEATC. net, a website that broadcasts and archives air traffic controller communications. “My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”

According to Flight Aware, the plane had taken off earlier Tuesday from Marsh Harbour International Airport in the Bahamas. The aircraft was occupied by the pilot and two passengers, according to a Federal Aviation Administration news release. Officials haven’t identified any of them.

Palm Beach International Airport air traffic controller Robert Morgan, a 20-year veteran, as able to talk the passenger down to a safe landing. Morgan is a certified flight instructor with experience piloting Cessna aircraft, the FAA said.

“Kudos to the new pilot,” one controller told him after the plane smoothly wheeled down the tarmac.

Rescue workers assisted the original pilot, officials said. Neither passenger had any injuries. Officials did not immediately say what caused the pilot to fall ill.

Morgan said in a video released by the FAA that he was just doing his job, but at a higher level than he thought he would have to do it.

“We’ve never had anything like that,” Morgan said. “I felt like I was in a movie.”