Passengers replacing pilots landed the plane safely

This passenger emphasized over the radio: “This is an emergency.”

Air traffic controller Robert Morgan was on a break when he received a call from a flight to the Bahamas.

“I rushed over. There was a real commotion in the cockpit… I heard someone say ‘hey, the pilot is losing control. The passengers are flying the plane. They have no experience,” Morgan told CNN.

Morgan later learned that the passenger had never flown a plane but that he had worked in the industry and had seen other pilots fly.

“He’s very calm.”

Morgan had never driven a Cessna either, but he looked at the dashboard layout and began giving his “new student” step-by-step instructions.

“Try to keep altitude and see if you can start landing. Push the joystick forward and down at a very slow speed.”

“Try to go along the north or south coast. We are trying to locate you.”

Then, Morgan made the important decision to direct passengers to control the plane to the largest airport in the region. In the end, the two worked together to get the Cessna to land on the runway – a task that normally takes cadets 20 hours to learn.

According to Morgan’s assessment, the landing was scored 10/10. “I felt like I was going to cry because no one was hurt.”

Many pilots felt “stunned” when another air traffic controller described what had just happened. “You just witnessed the passenger landing safely.”

“Oh my God. It’s amazing,” said an American Airlines pilot.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the pilot’s condition was not immediately clear. After the Cessna landed, Morgan met his “new student” – who hugged him tightly and said thank you.

“It was an emotional moment. He said he just wanted to go home to his pregnant wife. In my eyes, he is a hero. And I’m just doing my job.”

Dang Duong (According to CNN)