Passenger lands Humberside plane after pilot collapses

An inexperienced passenger landed an aeroplane at Humberside Airport after the pilot collapsed and later died.

14:05 09 October 2013

With the help of two flying instructors, a passenger has successfully landed an aeroplane at Humberside Airport after the pilot collapsed.

The pilot and the passenger were the only two people on board the aircraft, which took off from Sandtoft Airfield 25 miles away.

Reports say that police, fire, and ambulance crews were called to the airport after a distress call was made from the light aircraft.

Roy Murray, one of the two flying instructors, praised the passenger for doing a “remarkable job.”

He 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."

"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."

He added that there were cheers in the airport control room as the plane landed safely on its fourth attempt.

A spokesman for Humberside Police confirmed that the pilot has since died: "The pilot of the plane sadly died last night.

"We are not treating it as suspicious and we are in a position whereby formal identification will take place later today."