crash-proof
Well-known member
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- Jul 10, 2002
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Grabbed this off another board, amazing!
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040811/REPOSITORY/408110368/1001/NEWS01
Nightmare becomes triumph
Air traffic controller talked passenger through landing
K en Hopf has been an air traffic controller for 22 years, but he never had to coach a passenger through an emergency landing - until Monday afternoon.
Hopf, who lives in Bow, was working at the Federal Aviation Administration in Merrimack when, just past 4 p.m., he received the sort of a call many in his business might consider a nightmare: a plane with an unconscious pilot.
The blue and white, single-engine plane had taken off from the Laconia Airport and was headed to Utica, N.Y. The owners of the plane, William and Diana Truman of Melvin Village, were aboard with their daughter, Jennifer, who lives in Gilford. William Truman was piloting the plane. He and his wife, who remained at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center yesterday, are in their 60s; Jennifer Truman is in her 30s, according to authorities.
About 15 miles from the airport, Jennifer Truman radioed for help. Hopf said he came on the line, and she told him that her father had become incapacitated at the controls.
"She was in a panic state," Hopf said.
Truman told Hopf that her mother was tending to her unconscious father, and Hopf asked if she had any experience flying an airplane. Truman said she had flown a Cherokee, which is similar but not quite as big and complex as her parents' 1988 Piper Malibu, Hopf said.
Truman has had some flight instruction but does not hold a pilot's license, according to airport authorities.
Truman wanted to land quickly so medical personnel could treat her father. Hopf said he asked if she wanted to land at a larger airport, but Truman insisted she was familiar with the Laconia Airport and wanted to land there.
The wind was out of the west, and Hopf gave Truman directions to follow. Hopf is also a flight instructor, and he wanted to make sure of Truman's abilities in the sky before talking her through a complex landing. Hopf said he asked her to do some basic maneuvers with the plane, and she did them well enough.
While Truman flew over Lake Winnipesaukee, she informed Hopf that her mother had suddenly become unconscious and collapsed.
"At this point," Hopf said, "I'm saying to myself, 'Okay, I don't have time to spend with her (doing maneuvers). This airplane needs to get on the ground immediately.'" Although Hopf is not intimately familiar with the 1988 Piper Malibu, he figured its engine would not stall at 100 knots. He told Truman to slow to that speed and descend toward the airport's runway, which she could see by that time.
The small airport had stopped all incoming and outgoing flights in anticipation of Truman's return, and the Gilford Fire Department watched as she approached the tip of the runway.
Hopf explained how to pull back the throttle to reduce power. He also explained how important it was that once the plane landed, it be controlled while the brakes were applied.
"I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going so fast that she lost control when she hit the ground," Hopf said.
As Truman approached the runway, Hopf repeated his instructions. When the plane dipped below 2,500 feet, Hopf could no longer see her on the radar system he was using. The two kept talking on the radio, he said. Truman had been in a small plane before, Hopf said, and she knew what a proper approach looked like through the cockpit glass.
The plane came in and hit the ground "awful hard," Gilford Fire Chief Michael Mooney said.
"She went back up in the air and brought it back down," Mooney said. "Two or three times she bounced."
After about the third bounce, the plane flattened out on the runway, Mooney said.
"She got it straightened out," Mooney said. "Then she stopped the plane and cut the engine."
Paramedics drove Truman's parents to Lakes Region General Hospital, then they were flown by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman would not release any information about the Trumans'conditions yesterday. Citing federal law, Mooney also would not say what caused the Trumans' illnesses during the flight.
Although carbon monoxide poisoning was initially suspected as the cause, Mooney said that was not the reason the Trumans fell unconscious.
Hopf did not see the landing but said he knew it was successful.
"She told me the plane had come to a stop and she had turned off the engine. I could sense how emotional she was," Hopf said. "I was so happy."
Hopf said his call with Truman lasted about 10 minutes but seemed a lot shorter.
In his years as an air traffic controller, Hopf said, he has helped pilots who have become disoriented in bad weather, but this was the first time he had to coach down a passenger at the controls.
Hopf agreed to be interviewed yesterday not as a federal employee, but as a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Jennifer Truman could not be reached for comment.
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040811/REPOSITORY/408110368/1001/NEWS01
Nightmare becomes triumph
Air traffic controller talked passenger through landing
K en Hopf has been an air traffic controller for 22 years, but he never had to coach a passenger through an emergency landing - until Monday afternoon.
Hopf, who lives in Bow, was working at the Federal Aviation Administration in Merrimack when, just past 4 p.m., he received the sort of a call many in his business might consider a nightmare: a plane with an unconscious pilot.
The blue and white, single-engine plane had taken off from the Laconia Airport and was headed to Utica, N.Y. The owners of the plane, William and Diana Truman of Melvin Village, were aboard with their daughter, Jennifer, who lives in Gilford. William Truman was piloting the plane. He and his wife, who remained at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center yesterday, are in their 60s; Jennifer Truman is in her 30s, according to authorities.
About 15 miles from the airport, Jennifer Truman radioed for help. Hopf said he came on the line, and she told him that her father had become incapacitated at the controls.
"She was in a panic state," Hopf said.
Truman told Hopf that her mother was tending to her unconscious father, and Hopf asked if she had any experience flying an airplane. Truman said she had flown a Cherokee, which is similar but not quite as big and complex as her parents' 1988 Piper Malibu, Hopf said.
Truman has had some flight instruction but does not hold a pilot's license, according to airport authorities.
Truman wanted to land quickly so medical personnel could treat her father. Hopf said he asked if she wanted to land at a larger airport, but Truman insisted she was familiar with the Laconia Airport and wanted to land there.
The wind was out of the west, and Hopf gave Truman directions to follow. Hopf is also a flight instructor, and he wanted to make sure of Truman's abilities in the sky before talking her through a complex landing. Hopf said he asked her to do some basic maneuvers with the plane, and she did them well enough.
While Truman flew over Lake Winnipesaukee, she informed Hopf that her mother had suddenly become unconscious and collapsed.
"At this point," Hopf said, "I'm saying to myself, 'Okay, I don't have time to spend with her (doing maneuvers). This airplane needs to get on the ground immediately.'" Although Hopf is not intimately familiar with the 1988 Piper Malibu, he figured its engine would not stall at 100 knots. He told Truman to slow to that speed and descend toward the airport's runway, which she could see by that time.
The small airport had stopped all incoming and outgoing flights in anticipation of Truman's return, and the Gilford Fire Department watched as she approached the tip of the runway.
Hopf explained how to pull back the throttle to reduce power. He also explained how important it was that once the plane landed, it be controlled while the brakes were applied.
"I just wanted to make sure she wasn't going so fast that she lost control when she hit the ground," Hopf said.
As Truman approached the runway, Hopf repeated his instructions. When the plane dipped below 2,500 feet, Hopf could no longer see her on the radar system he was using. The two kept talking on the radio, he said. Truman had been in a small plane before, Hopf said, and she knew what a proper approach looked like through the cockpit glass.
The plane came in and hit the ground "awful hard," Gilford Fire Chief Michael Mooney said.
"She went back up in the air and brought it back down," Mooney said. "Two or three times she bounced."
After about the third bounce, the plane flattened out on the runway, Mooney said.
"She got it straightened out," Mooney said. "Then she stopped the plane and cut the engine."
Paramedics drove Truman's parents to Lakes Region General Hospital, then they were flown by helicopter to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. A hospital spokeswoman would not release any information about the Trumans'conditions yesterday. Citing federal law, Mooney also would not say what caused the Trumans' illnesses during the flight.
Although carbon monoxide poisoning was initially suspected as the cause, Mooney said that was not the reason the Trumans fell unconscious.
Hopf did not see the landing but said he knew it was successful.
"She told me the plane had come to a stop and she had turned off the engine. I could sense how emotional she was," Hopf said. "I was so happy."
Hopf said his call with Truman lasted about 10 minutes but seemed a lot shorter.
In his years as an air traffic controller, Hopf said, he has helped pilots who have become disoriented in bad weather, but this was the first time he had to coach down a passenger at the controls.
Hopf agreed to be interviewed yesterday not as a federal employee, but as a member of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. Jennifer Truman could not be reached for comment.
