This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-humber-24450534
The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Version 2 | Version 3 |
---|---|
Passenger lands plane at Humberside Airport after pilot falls ill | Passenger lands plane at Humberside Airport after pilot falls ill |
(about 2 hours later) | |
A passenger has landed an aeroplane at Humberside Airport after the pilot fell ill at the controls. | A passenger has landed an aeroplane at Humberside Airport after the pilot fell ill at the controls. |
Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the airport after the pilot collapsed and a distress call was made from the aircraft. | |
Two flying instructors were called in to advise the passenger how to bring the plane down. | |
One of them, Roy Murray, said the passenger had no flying experience and did a "remarkable job". | |
Mr Murray, who works at a flying school based at the airport, said: "He made quite a good landing actually. | |
"He didn't know the layout of the aeroplane, he didn't have lights on so he was absolutely flying blind as well. | |
"I think he'd flown once before as a passenger but never flown an aeroplane before." | |
Mr Murray said he tried to keep the man calm as he talked him through the landing procedure. | |
"The last thing you want to do is panic, then all sorts of things can happen." | |
He said there were cheers in the airport control room as the plane landed safely on its fourth attempt. | |
"It's a fantastic feeling knowing I have achieved something and probably saved somebody's life. | |
"I think without any sort of talk down he would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it." | |
'Heard crashing' | |
Stuart Sykes said he saw the aircraft land at about 19:50 BST. | |
"It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt," he told BBC Look North. | "It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt," he told BBC Look North. |
"There were a few sparks and three or four crashes, that must have been the propeller hitting the floor. | "There were a few sparks and three or four crashes, that must have been the propeller hitting the floor. |
"Then it uprighted again and it came to a stop." | "Then it uprighted again and it came to a stop." |
The pilot and passenger were the only people on board the aircraft, which took off from Sandtoft Airfield 25 miles (40km) away. | |
Details of the pilot's condition have not been released. | |
The North Lincolnshire airport said a full emergency plan was put in place. Roads surrounding the airport were closed but have since reopened. | |
Two incoming flights from Aberdeen and Amsterdam were delayed while the aircraft was removed from the runway. |