by gn85 » Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:33 pm
OK.. warning... this is LONG!!
WHEN THE PILOT HAS A HEART ATTACK AND YOUR'E ON YOUR OWN
PASSENGER LANDS PLANE AFTER PILOT DIES
It's the air passenger's nightmare.. the pilot collapses and you are forced to seize the controls to save your own life. For Alan Anderson, 24, it became reality when his girlfirend's father Les Rhoades suffered a fatal heart attack at 2,200 ft over the Welsh coast on Sunday. The pilot of a second light aircraft, Robert Legge, responded to his radio call for help and, trailing behind, calmly gave instructions on how to land.
ALAN ANDERSON had never flown before. So he was looking forward to an exciting time when his future father-in-law, Les Rhoades, aged 63, invited him up for a ride in his light plane. What he hadn't expected was that Mr. Rhoades would suffer a heart attack while they were in the air. Fortunately for Mr. Anderson, Mr. Rhoades had shown him how to operate the radio, so he was able to radio for help.
MAYDAY MAYDAY
Robert Legge, an instructor with the Cardiff Flying SChool who was in a plane a few miles away, was asked to help by air traffic controllers after they received an emergency call from Mr. Anderson, saying: "Mayday Mayday, my father-in-law has had a heart attack and I don't know how to fly."
Mr. Legg pulled alongside Mr. Anderson's plane and told him by radio how to fly the aircraft. He took him through a practice landing and then helped him bring the plane down safely at Cardiff Airport just after 7 p.m.
INCREDIBLE FEAT
Mr. Legge said last night: "It was an incredible feat for anyone, let alone someone for the first time ever in a light aircraft. He was fantastically calm. When I kept telling him what controls to use, the repeated reply was 'OK, but I've never done this before', but he never sounded frightened."
He added: "We had one chance to get it right and, thank God, we succeeded. The worst bit was coming over the runway for the landing when I felt as though I was no longer in control, but he made a perfect landing. He did marvellously well."
DEEP SHOCK
After his ordeal, Mr. Anderson was put under sedation for deep shock, and is now resting at his fiancee's home near Cardiff. He said yesterday: "After what I have been through, nothing will get me on a plane again. I've never been so terrified in my whole life, but I knew I had to keep calm." And he tahnks Mr. Legge, saying: "I didn't have a clue what to do, but Robter put me at ease and I just gritted my teeth and concentrated on the job in hand."
