Passenger Lands Plane After Pilot Falls Ill

Instructors called in to guide the man, who had no prior flying experience

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Petrea Alexandru / Getty Images

The pilot of a light aircraft made a distress call to Humberside airport when he became too sick to fly the plane.

A passenger made an emergency landing at a British airport after the pilot of the plane they were flying in collapsed at the controls.

The man had no flying experience and did a “remarkable job,” according to Roy Murray, one of two flying instructors who helped the man bring the plane down on Tuesday evening.

“He didn’t know the layout of the aeroplane. He didn’t have lights on so he was absolutely flying blind as well,” said Murray. “I think he’d flown once before as a passenger but never flown an aeroplane before.”

The light aircraft landed safely on its fourth attempt at a small international airport in North Lincolnshire amid cheers from the control room. The pilot’s condition has not been made public.

[BBC]