ATC help passenger land King Air after pilot dies

teetee

teetee

New Member
The reason I am posting this here is cause of this quote:

A day after the ordeal, White said he could never have done it without the help of the air-traffic controllers.
"Heartfelt thanks," he said. "They don't make near enough money, don't get near enough respect for what they do."

Here is the full report: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30190350/
 
i saw this on a local tv broadcast and they made it into some hysteria. the passenger was a licensed pilot, i really don't see what the big deal is.

Not to downplay what those controllers did (they contributed in a great way to the safety of that flight, no doubt), but a licensed pilot still landed that plane. Having a person who knows about aerodynamics, stalls, aircraft handling and someone who has the proper muscle reflexes is what really saved the day here.

(hey, probably every private pilot has an evil wish that he could somehow 'save' the passenger jet he's riding on)
 
pm577 said:
i saw this on a local tv broadcast and they made it into some hysteria. the passenger was a licensed pilot, i really don't see what the big deal is.

Not to downplay what those controllers did (they contributed in a great way to the safety of that flight, no doubt), but a licensed pilot still landed that plane. Having a person who knows about aerodynamics, stalls, aircraft handling and someone who has the proper muscle reflexes is what really saved the day here.

(hey, probably every private pilot has an evil wish that he could somehow 'save' the passenger jet he's riding on)
Click to expand...


Having plenty of time in King Airs, I am impressed that this SEL private pilot got the thing down without incident.
 
A plane is not a any plane. Depending on total experience i would think it would be hard to find a private pilot with single engine cessna experience to safely land multi engine cessna...let alone a king air.
 
I've heard in a crisis having that ATC voice guiding you in is like having a second pilot by your side. Kudos to the excellent teamwork of the ATC involved.
 
I am NO expert on flying but I have been around it enough to know that there IS A difference. It is a whole lot different flying a Cessna 172 than it is flying a King Air. Each aircraft has its own complexities and requirements to know how to fly. It isn't like driving a car where you just get behind the wheel and drive.

Yes he had the basic knowledge but he was not ME rated (at least from all I gathered from it) and I am pretty sure that the King Air is ME.

That knowledge makes a BIG difference. Someone that flies a Brasilia can get behind the stick/yoke of a 767 but that doesn't mean that they will know EXACTLY how to fly, land, etc without help and hurting the plane. Yes they would know the basic but they would need help with the power and all the specs!

darrenf said:
Already posted...

http://forums.jetcareers.com/general-topics/85918-fort-myers-emergency.html
Click to expand...

I knew it was but I wanted the ATC to see it. I don't think many frequent the other areas. They might be better about it now then they were a year ago though :)
 
darrenf said:
Having plenty of time in King Airs, I am impressed that this SEL private pilot got the thing down without incident.
Click to expand...

poser765 said:
A plane is not a any plane. Depending on total experience i would think it would be hard to find a private pilot with single engine cessna experience to safely land multi engine cessna...let alone a king air.
Click to expand...

Oh, please, you two. The King Air is probably the most forgiving multiengine airplane around. An airplane is an airplane whether its a Cessna, a King Air or a 737. The only difference is the seat height eye level.

Truth be told, I learned to fly in a T-28, but had more problems learning to land the 152s at the Navy Flying Club than I ever did with a King Air.
 
Velocipede said:
Oh, please, you two. The King Air is probably the most forgiving multiengine airplane around. An airplane is an airplane whether its a Cessna, a King Air or a 737. The only difference is the seat height eye level.

Truth be told, I learned to fly in a T-28, but had more problems learning to land the 152s at the Navy Flying Club than I ever did with a King Air.
Click to expand...


You emphasize the point by showing how different the 152 was, oh god of aviation. :rolleyes:
 
pm577 said:
i saw this on a local tv broadcast and they made it into some hysteria. the passenger was a licensed pilot, i really don't see what the big deal is.
Click to expand...

A busy sector at Miami center, and a pilot dies at the controls. It's a big deal. The rest of your sector doesn't just stop, you have to keep working the rest of the planes while dealing with the emergency. It's not like the guy just hopped behind the controls and immediately landed the plane, he had to have checklists communicated to him over the radio, that must have been one busy frequency.

The controllers did an awesome job.
 
hudson26 said:
A busy sector at Miami center, and a pilot dies at the controls. It's a big deal. The rest of your sector doesn't just stop, you have to keep working the rest of the planes while dealing with the emergency. It's not like the guy just hopped behind the controls and immediately landed the plane, he had to have checklists communicated to him over the radio, that must have been one busy frequency.

The controllers did an awesome job.
Click to expand...

No doubt.

The way I heard the TV story at first made me think that any random passenger had landed the plane. Then at the end they said the guy was a licensed pilot but was not qualified for multi-engine. Sorry, I just had a immediate reaction of "Why did that make the news?" I know there are dozens of emergencies every day that never make the news, so I get mad when they twist these stories for news ratings.
 
The pilot is a hero, no matter what anyone thinks...simple as that. I was there...I'm not going into details because frankly, I don't know what I can and cannot say...but the fact that this guy had zero experience in a king air and landed it better than most of the pilots that fly into RSW speaks for itself...not to mention how calm he was throughout the ordeal...
 
AUPilotAU said:
The pilot is a hero, no matter what anyone thinks...simple as that. I was there...I'm not going into details because frankly, I don't know what I can and cannot say...but the fact that this guy had zero experience in a king air and landed it better than most of the pilots that fly into RSW speaks for itself...not to mention how calm he was throughout the ordeal...
Click to expand...

Did you actually see him land the airplane? I'm curious to see how it looked from the tower's perspective.

HD
 
The truth is 2 of the Miami Center controllers involved in getting this guy down safely on a busy traffic day in sunny South Florida have been fully certified less than 2 years and the 3rd technically still a developmental. They did a phenomenal job under pressure given their experience and it absolutely IS a shame they took this job for a 1/3 less pay than controllers 5 years ago. Kudos to them!
 
pm577 said:
Then at the end they said the guy was a licensed pilot but was not qualified for multi-engine. Sorry, I just had a immediate reaction of "Why did that make the news?" I know there are dozens of emergencies every day that never make the news, so I get mad when they twist these stories for news ratings.
Click to expand...

It's not like hopping from one car into a slightly bigger one. The guy had more experience behind a yoke than the average person off the street, of course, but there are a lot of significant differences between single-engine Cessna and a multi-engine, complex plane like a King Air. And when you have it dropped into your lap unannounced, with no training in that type of plane and a need to land safely and quickly, with no margin for error, through traffic -- then it becomes a bigger deal.

PGT said:
The real question is, how should he log this time? :)
Click to expand...

Heh. I was thinking the same thing after reading the article. Hey, I'd go for it -- airport-to-airport, no T/O but one landing, as PIC. Comments... hm... something like "Averted disaster, made national headlines, etc."
 
HiDef said:
Did you actually see him land the airplane? I'm curious to see how it looked from the tower's perspective.

HD
Click to expand...

He came in a bit lower than we are used to seeing...about a mile out, the wings were dipping like the scene in top gun where cougar and merlin were landing on the carrier after the mig shape up...but right before touchdown, he leveled out nicley...if you were watching this plane touchdown, you wouldn't think anything was wrong...He was off by F3 intersection where as most people land longer than that.
 
AUPilotAU said:
He came in a bit lower than we are used to seeing...about a mile out, the wings were dipping like the scene in top gun where cougar and merlin were landing on the carrier after the mig shape up...but right before touchdown, he leveled out nicley...if you were watching this plane touchdown, you wouldn't think anything was wrong...He was off by F3 intersection where as most people land longer than that.
Click to expand...

Pretty neat, thanks.

HD
 
PGT said:
The real question is, how should he log this time? :)
Click to expand...

Oh, I would so definitely be using that toward a multi-engine rating. lol
"No, no, teacher. I've already logged one solo flight. Sure, it was cross-country. No, no take off, but a beautiful landing."
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top