80-year old wife lands twin after 81-year old husband dies

Oh what they all say...

"He died doing what he loved."

Which is great because it's so open-ended, both lovers and critics can use it. ;)
 
Henning said:
Exactly! I brought this up in another thread, I think the difference between a persons basal reaction to stress, accelerate or freeze, is a greater factor in your survival in an emergency than anything else.
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Yeah, she has the Right Stuff. Very impressive. As for her loss- heck, it happens to folks that age... and what a nice thing that he "died doing what he loved", but the plane and pax returned safely. That's a rare thing. His end could have been worse, like lingering in a hospital bed. I hope she can find comfort in that.
 
bbchien said:
The guy clearly ad an SI for his CAD and it was up on March 31. So he had reason to know, and endangered his spouse anyway, leaving her upstairs.

That's being a sch_uck to the one who has spent her whole life with you. I wonder what his headstone will say.....
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Maybe, maybe not. Not like she was a paying passenger buying a ticket who doesn't know the pilot. In America we still abide by 'informed consent'. I would imagine if there was an epitomal example to be had, this would be an extreme even. She knew his condition, come on. Hell, I said it before, if my mom and dad can go together in a plane crash, that would be a good thing after all these years.
 
nddons said:
roncachamp is an air traffic controller up in that area. I wonder what he has heard about this.

Paging Steve M.
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I was off on Monday but I've discussed this a bit with a controller that was working in the tower at the time. This is what I recall as he related it to me:

He received a phone call from the Brown County 911 dispatcher. Dispatcher had received a cell call from a woman in an airplane in the Luxemburg area; her husband, the pilot, was incapacitated, and she was not a pilot. The dispatcher called the Green Bay ATCT because she didn't know who else to call.

(Local geography lesson: Green Bay is in Brown County, Luxemburg is about 19 miles ENE of KGRB in Kewaunee County, the destination airport, KSUE, is in Door County about 22 miles northeast of Luxemburg.)

The tower controller found a VFR code in the Luxemburg area that fit the scenario. He called another controller back from break for assistance. This second controller began by calling law enforcement/rescue/management personnel responsible for KSUE. Once that was done the ball was pretty much in the hands of those people and the woman in the airplane, nothing left for ATC to do.

There was discussion about bringing the woman to KGRB instead of KSUE due to longer runways and better CFR. I think it a good thing that was not done. KGRB is on the southwest side of Green Bay, she could easily have become a glider over a densely populated area with nowhere to put the airplane down. There is lots of open space in the area between Luxemburg and KSUE and the airport there had adequate CFR for this event.
 
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I am not a pilot, and therefore post very little on the board. But I have to say that while listening to the 40+ minute audio, I could not help but “put myself into Helen’s seat.” My relating to her situation, no doubt is different from those of you who have your certification.

I have had a tad more training for emergency procedures than the typical “pinch hitter” course. I know where everything is on our plane that I need to know to land the plane, and have done so numerous times. I have been trained to aviate, communicate, navigate and yet given similar circumstances, I am not 100% positive that I would have the same control as Helen demonstrated. I would hope that I would but.....

I am absolutely taken aback by Helen’s composure, focus, and her ability to remain seemingly calm under the conditions that she was experiencing. I am in awe.

For those of you who know me personally, you probably remember my anxiety whenever I would fly in our plane. It’s not totally gone, but stepping up and making myself learn something that I really didn’t want to learn to do, was one of the best things that I have ever done.

My reason for posting at all? I would hope to encourage anyone that flies right seat, to be proactive and learn at least the basics and go a little further than that, and “master “ if you will, the skill of getting the plane down. I have seen posts from others stating that they wished their spouses would take the pinch hitter course. Listening to that audio, brought all of my trepidation full circle....and I would go back and forth in my head thinking, “I’m glad I know how to land our plane” to “OMG this poor woman to be faced with this!” If this post can serve as any motivation to those who fly as right seat passengers, then it is worth my uneasiness in deciding to share my comments.
 
I had a customer in my frame shop (she was a regular) explain to me that if her husband died at the controls, she would want to just go down with him. I had been trying to talk her into taking a pinch hitter course.

I told her that I admired her love and loyalty, but when that ground is rushing up at you, it is unlikely that such romantic notions would be going through her head.

She was pretty offended at my comments. Never saw her again.

-John
 
John Baker said:
I had a customer in my frame shop (she was a regular) explain to me that if her husband died at the controls, she would want to just go down with him.
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That's like that mom in the Titanic that tucked her kids in and waited to die. What is the point of that?!
 
As pointed out via another website, I've misread the federal public website. Mr. Collins had two more months to go on his likley SI for CAD. I do regret the comment as to "leaving his wife up there".

She had REMARKABLE composure.
 
bbchien said:
I do regret the comment as to "leaving his wife up there".
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Well, it's something that needs to be considered when one isn't quite up to 100%. But denial can cause us to end up in remarkably bad places.

As I've mentioned, my dad claimed to not have any health problems ("Never been sick a day in my life.") right up to the day they found him unconscious on the floor of an FBO men's room.

She had REMARKABLE composure.
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Yes.
 
John Baker said:
I had a customer in my frame shop (she was a regular) explain to me that if her husband died at the controls, she would want to just go down with him. I had been trying to talk her into taking a pinch hitter course.

I told her that I admired her love and loyalty, but when that ground is rushing up at you, it is unlikely that such romantic notions would be going through her head.

She was pretty offended at my comments. Never saw her again.

-John
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To each his own.

My motivation was not necessarily because of "death" but also the countless other reasons that could cause a pilot to become incapacitated. I was not willing to have that be an option, so I forced myself to leave my comfort zone and learn to get our plane down. I hope and pray that I never have to use that skill under a stressful situation. I will continue to encourage anyone that I meet to at least learn the basics.
 
Henning said:
Solo for the title, primed and ready one landing away.
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Don't have a desire to be "up there" all alone....plus I hate tests. :(

I am content knowing what I know-- and knowing I can "assist" if need be. Plus I have learned everything from the right seat, which is where I would be most of the time......Brad refers to me as his "Emergency Pilot" :)
 
John Baker said:
I had a customer in my frame shop (she was a regular) explain to me that if her husband died at the controls, she would want to just go down with him. I had been trying to talk her into taking a pinch hitter course.

I told her that I admired her love and loyalty, but when that ground is rushing up at you, it is unlikely that such romantic notions would be going through her head.

She was pretty offended at my comments. Never saw her again.

-John
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Ask her if she'd feel different about that if her son or daughter (or better yet grandson/granddaughter) was in the plane with her.
 
Dizaster said:
Don't have a desire to be "up there" all alone....plus I hate tests. :(

I am content knowing what I know-- and knowing I can "assist" if need be. Plus I have learned everything from the right seat, which is where I would be most of the time......Brad refers to me as his "Emergency Pilot" :)
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The only test for solo is a quick "pre solo written" that is just to give them record that they gave you the required info for solo. It's not an FAA test or anything. But yeah, I always try to explain that many people haven't the desire.
 
I'm not usually the type to resurrect an old thread, although this one's not too old and I mean the following question in absolutely no light-hearted way. After all this was a tragedy.
After this successful landing, could this woman log this as PIC? Or would it be considered dual instruction, as she was being coached by ATC. In other words, does dual have to have an instructor present or on the radio?
 
Aeric said:
I'm not usually the type to resurrect an old thread, although this one's not too old and I mean the following question in absolutely no light-hearted way. After all this was a tragedy.
After this successful landing, could this woman log this as PIC? Or would it be considered dual instruction, as she was being coached by ATC. In other words, does dual have to have an instructor present or on the radio?
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Without a current medical she can't log it...:dunno: IMHO
 
After this successful landing, could this woman log this as PIC?
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Anyone can purchase a logbook at Sporty's and put anything in it they want.
However, when she applies at the airlines, there is going to be some furious eyebrow waggling when they see it.
 
I had a chat with a woman who rides right seat with her husband in a meridian. They had a Cherokee 6 for 28 years. I asked if she had learned to land yet. No. Well, we talked about this woman and what she did and I encouraged her to at least learn where the important buttons are so she could take instruction to land on the fly in an emergency. She said she would hope that she and her husband both could "go" together. I asked well, what if your grand daughters are with you? Ah, different response! I think I'll talk to the meridian people and get some lessons..... I told her I'd drop by their place sometime on my way up to midland and see how she's doing. Lovely woman, hope she follows through
 
Jeanie said:
I had a chat with a woman who rides right seat with her husband in a meridian. They had a Cherokee 6 for 28 years. I asked if she had learned to land yet. No. Well, we talked about this woman and what she did and I encouraged her to at least learn where the important buttons are so she could take instruction to land on the fly in an emergency. She said she would hope that she and her husband both could "go" together. I asked well, what if your grand daughters are with you? Ah, different response! I think I'll talk to the meridian people and get some lessons..... I told her I'd drop by their place sometime on my way up to midland and see how she's doing. Lovely woman, hope she follows through
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Take the grand daughters too, spare them a life of servitude.:rolleyes:
 
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