Heart attack claims pilot.

[Ailerongirl]

Also, you hear him mention that they lowered the gear and flaps, and that he made a second pass to the runway. How does a non pilot even know to put down flaps for landing, and where these controls are in the plane? It is truly amazing to me.
Good job!

I thought the same thing. He obviously had at least a rudimentary knowledge of arodynamics, and how an plane operates. It's sad that they lost a friend, but bravo to this guy for getting them down safely.

On another note, did anyone catch that the reporter said 'saw him slumped over the wheel'

 

[VNugget]

Also, he could have gotten lots of help on the radio.

Both from the ground, and, as Irishpilot noted, from the air.

 

[Mmmmmm Burritos]

I saw television coverage of the incident. As the cameraman zoomed in on the bent tips of the props, the newsman talked about the 2 jet engines.

Are turboprops not jets engines with a prop attached?

They said this guy had a few flying lessons in a glider 20 years ago. And I'm sure he's been up flying with his friend before. Some people can be quite observant and learn the basics just from watching. Alas, most of my students were not this way!

 

[User546]

How can this non pilot use the instruments to find the airport? There are some private pilots who loose controls if they fly into IMC. Also, you hear him mention that they lowered the gear and flaps, and that he made a second pass to the runway.

You can almost be sure that he had plenty of help from the ground and air as others have noted.

Also the amazing feat of flying on instruments thru the clouds might not be as impressive as it first sounds. First thing I would do if I was on the ground and had a non-pilot "pilot" stuck up there, is teach him the autopilot! They can't be that complicated on a Commander! That would provide every bit of stablitity that any competent person would need to get thru the cloud deck. Also you can give them a real quick crash course of navigation, although chances are they were just being given vectors to the airport, and told when to descend.

However they did, it was an amazing job, especially having to go around! Too bad we lost one of our own up there in the process.

 

[3466blt]

Wow. If they were flying for 45 minutes, they were probably pretty close to their cruise altitude, and if you look at the picture in the above link, it appears to be cloudy. How can this non pilot use the instruments to find the airport? There are some private pilots who loose controls if they fly into IMC. Also, you hear him mention that they lowered the gear and flaps, and that he made a second pass to the runway. How does a non pilot even know to put down flaps for landing, and where these controls are in the plane? It is truly amazing to me.
Good job!

I was close to this actual event. I worked for the closely for the pilot. It was my idea to fly that day to San Diego. I wasn’t on board but had been many times. To answer is simply the pilot liked to fly a lot and friends-family-employees would occasionally sit-up with the pilot. After idk 50 times of doing this most of it comes pretty simple.

Also the geography of nlvc plays into them being able to see the runway. After you’ve flown into north Las Vegas idk 50 or more times you can pick out the three airports in the valley with ease.