0 time passenger lands plane (Cessna Caravan)

Looked better than my most recent landings!

That passenger did an excellent job of keeping his cool. I'm sure his heart was pounding, but there was no panic in his voice. Very well done, on his part and that of ATC.
 
Man, to do that with no experience? Outstanding job! It's amazing the things one can do when your life is on the line.
 
It sounded like he has some pilot experience. He said "I can't even get my nav screen to turn on. It has all the information on it. You guys have any information on that." He may have not flown a caravan before, but I would be really surprised if he hasn't airplanes before. I think he needed navigational assistance more so than aviating assistance. I'd like to hear a lot more of the tape.
More I think about it, maybe he has done a lot of simulation stuff like on Pilot Edge or VATSIM and has done a lot of talking with ‘controllers’ and flying ‘airplanes’. Wonder what the avionics were in the plane and what auto pilot. The Controller was supposedly a CFI. Did he have Caravan experience? Maybe it really wasn’t all that incredible.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Fake news.
The pilot of a Caravan would have had to hold a valid FAA medical which would have precluded this alleged "event".
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Maybe he was a former Northwest pilot. It didn't say he had a medical problem, just that he was incoherent.
 
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Some idiot talking head is demanding to know why there weren’t two pilots in the cockpit.
 
luvflyin said:
It sounded like he has some pilot experience. He said "I can't even get my nav screen to turn on. It has all the information on it. You guys have any information on that." He may have not flown a caravan before, but I would be really surprised if he hasn't airplanes before. I think he needed navigational assistance more so than aviating assistance. I'd like to hear a lot more of the tape.
More I think about it, maybe he has done a lot of simulation stuff like on Pilot Edge or VATSIM and has done a lot of talking with ‘controllers’ and flying ‘airplanes’. Wonder what the avionics were in the plane and what auto pilot. The Controller was supposedly a CFI. Did he have Caravan experience? Maybe it really wasn’t all that incredible.
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Its possible he was comparing it to the Nav screen prominent in almost all new vehicles, not necessarily an aviation radio/GPS.
 
TCABM said:
Some idiot talking head is demanding to know why there weren’t two pilots in the cockpit.
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Why not 3? Why not have two cockpits with two pilots each? Why aren't planes flying themselves yet? Why don't we have teleport machines?
 
TCABM said:
Some idiot talking head is demanding to know why there weren’t two pilots in the cockpit.
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We used to have a Caravan operator here that normally operated two pilot, but had Ops Specs that allowed single pilot if they needed. Passengers were usually not happy to only see a single pilot and would complain.

Even in the charter world, many King Airs and CJs that are single pilot capable are operated with two, at the customer's request. A lot of the general population is just not that comfortable with the idea of a single pilot.
 
Here's the track: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N333LD

That could have ended up a lot different while they were over the water and lost a couple thousand feet. Glad it all worked out so well...I don't think I had a landing that good until pretty far into my training!
 
I ended up landing the plane on my 2nd lesson. He said he'd take over but he never did and I went for it.

Glad this guy managed to do it so nicely!
 
Bill said:
Man, to do that with no experience? Outstanding job! It's amazing the things one can do when your life is on the line.
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Yep the human survival instinct really is something else. I remember a video from a few years back of a guy who wasn't strapped into a hang glider hanging on for dear life while the pilot tried to get them on the ground, I think he held on for like 10-15 minutes or something like that, tore his biceps, broke bones in his wrist, etc. but was able to hang on long enough to get close enough to the ground so he could live. Also the climber a while back who they made a movie about who cut his own arm off with a dull pocket knife...

It's not just physical limits you push but also mental and psychological. Awesome job by this guy and great landing.
 
T Bird said:
Also the climber a while back who they made a movie about who cut his own arm off with a dull pocket knife...
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Aron Ralston, the story was made into the movie 127 Hours.

Another really impressive climber survival story was Joe Simpson (the movie was Touching the Void)
 
Beck Weathers.

Survived a storm on Everest that was the subject of the book, and later film, Into Thin Air. Lost a bunch of surface area to frost bite. Recovered and invented a way to grow nose tips, ear tips, etc., on the backs of mice, then developed a way to successfully transplant them onto humans.
 
I listened to the dialog on vas aviation.
He was talking the talk pretty good. "triple 3 lima delta"
He was able to enter 7700 into the transponder without being told what it looked like
"I'm descending now at 550 feet per minute"
"Passing 8640"

He knows his way around a panel and how to talk like a pilot. I suspect he has more familiarity with flying than the news stories imply.
 
bmackinnon said:
Can someone link the LiveATC?
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https://www.liveatc.net/recordings.php
Controller tells him to set transponder to 7700 and ident. Passenger says 'iwhat?' About 4 minutes in he says 'got the coast in my headlights.' Said a couple minutes later, 'I don't know how to do anything.' Of course, he did know a few things. Enough of them. Most likely had flown as pax with a private or commercial pilot during happier days, and had picked up some lingo.
 
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SixPapaCharlie said:
I listened to the dialog on vas aviation.
He was talking the talk pretty good. "triple 3 lima delta"
He was able to enter 7700 into the transponder without being told what it looked like
"I'm descending now at 550 feet per minute"
"Passing 8640"

He knows his way around a panel and how to talk like a pilot. I suspect he has more familiarity with flying than the news stories imply.
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lol except for the 'indent' button the controller asked him to press. he actually said ident but spelled out indent. I think it was a passenger that was working ATC as well, never controlled before.
 
eman1200 said:
I think it was a passenger that was working ATC as well, never controlled before.
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A rookie in the plane & one in the tower ... now that would up the ratings on a news story!
 
DavidWhite said:
A caravan is generally speaking one of the most benign airplanes in the sky. It’s a big 172 thats more stable in every axis.
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Is it just as easy [compared to the bigger Cessna recips] to keep the nose up on landing?
 
A great outcome for all involved. I hope Pilot-to-Pilot or one of the other podcasts will be able to connect with the passenger in the near future for an interview.
 
Lando said:
Here's the track: https://flightaware.com/live/flight/N333LD

That could have ended up a lot different while they were over the water and lost a couple thousand feet. Glad it all worked out so well...I don't think I had a landing that good until pretty far into my training!
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Interesting straight track on long final. Maybe he managed to do a coupled approach of some kind? Also makes me wonder if the pilot roused himself enough to assist in any way?
 
I wonder if maybe he did a lot of sim time with one of those realistic ATC sites? If he is used to "flying" in a sim, he might be more likely to be able to use the instruments and keep the plane flying straight, with or without autopilot. I suspect he is a lot more familiar with aviation than the average person.

Either way, it's still great that he managed to land safely and even keep the airplane reusable!
 
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