By Chantal Da Silva – NBC News
A passenger managed to land a small plane in Florida on Tuesday when the pilot began to act “incoherently” due to a medical emergency, following instructions from the control tower.
The Cessna Caravan plane touched down safely at Palm Beach International Airport around 12:30 p.m., according to the local station. WPTVaffiliated with NBC News.
In the recording of the passenger’s call (who was not identified by authorities) to air traffic control in Fort Pierce he is heard warning: “I have a serious situation here”.
“The pilot has become incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the plane,” adds the passenger.
“It is understood. What is your position?”, responds the control tower.
“I have no idea,” says the passenger, “I can see the Florida coastline in front of me and I have no idea.”
The control tower operator then told him to “keep your wings level” and to “just try to follow the coast, either north or south” while relief crews tried to locate the plane.
Through instructions received from the control tower, the passenger managed to land the plane.
[En video: El mar se traga una casa construida en un banco de arena de Carolina del Norte]
“I’m telling you, he did a great job,” someone can be heard saying in a recording of another air traffic control call about what happened. “Did you say a passenger landed the plane?” asks a person on the other end of the line. “Oh my gosh, well done,” she says.
The passenger “had no flight experience”, it is indicated in the aforementioned conversation, in which it is also mentioned that the controller who helped him was a flight instructor.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office reported that one person was taken to the hospital in connection with the incident, according to WPTV. No information was released about the individual’s condition or identity, or whether he was the pilot of the plane.
[Habitantes de Yucatán denuncian el robo de restos arqueológicos en las obras del Tren Maya]
NBC News has contacted the sheriff’s office for further comment. The FAA is investigating the incident.
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