14 DAY TRIAL // A man training to become a pilot was forced to learn sooner than he thought he would when the pilot fell ill.
The plane took off from Sandtoft Airfield, East Yorkshire, in the UK, yesterday. At 6.30 p.m., the pilot became incapacitated and the passenger had to step in.
He was the only person on a plane and had to perform an emergency landing at Humberside Airport.
The aircraft is believed to be a small Cessna, and the pilot sounded off an emergency signal and fell unconscious.
Police called in two flight instructors who guided the unnamed passenger. He delivered a safe landing, Sky News reported.
"He was very calm and he followed all our instructions and he did a beautiful landing," instructor Roy Murray describes.
"I’ve never met him, I’d like to meet him, obviously just to say 'Well done, lad. Together we did it,'" he adds.
Murray recalls being nervous about how the passenger would fare, under the circumstances.
"When I think about it now that lad did extremely well, no lights, in the dark, no experience, flying a strange aeroplane in a strange area, he must have been nerve-wracked as well as us.
"I didn’t want to upset him and tell him to move all round the cockpit (trying to locate the light switches), all I was interested in was keeping him flying the aeroplane straight and level," Murray says.
The plane landed on the fourth approach, at approximately 7.30pm.
"We are pleased to say that the incident that started a few hours ago has been successfully dealt with. Great response from emergency svs!" an airport spokesperson said in a statement.
Authorities have informed that the pilot has died of unknown causes, after being transported to a hospital.