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Passenger with no flying experience lands plane after pilot suffers emergency midflight

Hands flying a plane
Hands flying a plane
Getty Images/NgKhanhVuKhoa

What happens when there are only two people on a flight and the pilot goes down and is unable to complete the journey?

It's scary to think about, but it happened to a man in Florida this past Tuesday.


He was in a small Cessna 208, and he and the pilot were the only passengers on it.  Unfortunately, the pilot suffered a medical emergency in the middle of the flight, and unless he figured out a way to land the plane…bad news for both of them.

Thankfully, the man was able to make contact with air traffic control, and with Robert Morgan, a 20-year veteran who was able to talk him through a safe landing.

Morgan told WPBF, "I knew the plane was flying like any other plane. I just had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and just tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land. It felt really good to help someone."

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Rick Breitenfeldt confirmed that the pilot and passenger were the only two people aboard.  There was no immediate word on the condition of the pilot, and authorities did not release their names.

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