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Old April 15th 09, 03:29 AM posted to rec.aviation.piloting
Mike Ash
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Posts: 299
Default Passenger lands plane in Fla. after pilot dies

In article ,
"Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe" The Sea Hawk @See My Sig.com wrote:

http://www.aopa.org/aircraft/article...WT.mc_id=ebrie
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Interview with the passenger/pilot and audio of the ATC communications.


Much better than the story that I found. Thank you very much!

It strikes me that there were some significant pieces of luck involved.
The autopilot was engaged when the pilot collapsed and this gave Mr.
White time to figure things out before he had to take any action. That
he was already sitting up front was no doubt a big help, as was the fact
that the controller was able to find a King Air pilot on such short
notice. All of those are significant aids that could easily have been
different.

This is not to take away from the skill of Mr. White. Luck was involved,
but his ability both to fly planes and to stay calm in a crisis are what
saved the day. Definitely very well done on his part!

I can only hope that I do as well the next time I have a dire in-flight
emergency.

--
Mike Ash
Radio Free Earth
Broadcasting from our climate-controlled studios deep inside the Moon