Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies

[big dog1]

Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A passenger landed a twin-engine plane in Florida after the pilot died in flight with a total of six people on board.
Federal Aviation Administration officials say the pilot died after takeoff from an airport in Naples on Sunday. It was on autopilot and climbing toward 10,000 feet when the pilot died.
The passenger who took over is licensed for single-engine planes but isn't certified to fly the larger King Air craft.
An air traffic controller helped the passenger down by calling a friend in Connecticut who knows the King Air plane and relaying instructions. The plane landed safely at Southwest Florida International Airport in Fort Myers.
The plane had been headed to Jackson, Miss. The names of the pilot and passengers have not been released.
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Information from: Naples Daily News, http://www.naplesnews.com

 

[makersmarc]

This should make a great "..and there I was" story to tell his grandkids.

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Must've been sorta morbid to fly a plane with a dead guy next to you....

 

[Amish RakeFight]

Was any of this caught on tape or yutube, or perhaps someone witnessed the landing. Just wondering how well this PP did with the approach.

Someone got a tail number or something that can be linked from Flightaware.com?

 

[JettBoii]

Landing a King Air is like landing a Cessna 172.

 

[LazyLightnin']

Was any of this caught on tape or yutube, or perhaps someone witnessed the landing. Just wondering how well this PP did with the approach.

Someone got a tail number or something that can be linked from Flightaware.com?

N559DW..

Already removed from flightaware.

 

[time builder]

Landing a King Air is like landing a Cessna 172.

It might be easy for us, but for this guy to fly a plane twice as fast as the one's he's used to with a dead guy in the left seat, I think deserves our respect.

Congratulations to all involved, RIP to the captain.

 

[robair73]

This brings up a great point for all of those 9/11 conspiracy theorists. How come a passenger didn't try to land the plane that went down in an open field in PA? I'm sure there had to be at least one person on that plane that had some sort of flying experience to at least try landing it before crashing it in a field in the middle of no where. hmmm

 

[EMBATP]

pilot

i knew the pilot...was my boss when i flew 135....retired air force f-111 guy...i think he was the exec officer for the england based f-111 unit on the libya raid or something like that...nice guy...

 

[vectorvictor]

I heard the FAA was going to violate the private pilot for operating a twin engine aircraft on an IFR flight plan without a multi-engine cert. or an instrument rating.

In all seriousness; I tip my hat to the private pilot that got the machine back on the ground in one piece. He had some good training.

Sorry to hear about the pilot.

VV