Featured Story | Jennifer & Bill

A Passenger Lands A Plane At PBIA

We had Miracle On The Hudson…this should be called Miracle At PBIA!   A passenger on board a Cessna Caravan was forced to land the plane at Palm Beach International Airport yesterday afternoon after the pilot suffered a medical emergency.     “I’ve got a serious situation here,” the passenger can be heard telling Air Traffic Control in Fort Pierce. “My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”   “Roger. What’s your position?” Air Traffic Control responded.    “I have no idea,” the passenger said. “I can see the coast of Florida in front of me. And I have no idea.”    “Maintain wings level and just try to follow the coast, either north or southbound,” Air Traffic Control told him. “We’re trying to locate you.”  4-minutes elapse as the passenger tries to figure out what to do.   “Have you guys located me yet?” he asked. “I can’t even get my nav screen to turn on. It has all the information on it. You guys have any ideas on that?”    Eventually, Air Traffic Control locates the plane on their radar.   It was flying just off the coast of Boca Raton.    That’s when Air Traffic Control at PBIA took over and was able to talk the passenger through a very safe landing….”Kudos to that new pilot,” the air traffic controller said after the plane landed safely.