My imagination gets away from me sometimes. I’m an avid Flight Simulator fan and have often wondered if I could land a plane with the experience I have. In reality, it’s likely the Dunning-Krueger effect in full swing. However, as we head towards Flight Simulator 2024 launching in November, a female passenger in the United States has proven it can be done.
Yesterday, over the skies of Bakersfield, California. An incredible passenger took the controls of a privately owned Beech C90-B King Air as the pilot was incapacitated.
This isn’t a small plane either. The Beech C90-B King Air is a turbo-prop capable of carrying 2 crew and 5 passengers while reaching a maximum operating height of 30,000ft.
The passenger took the controls of the aircraft and contacted air traffic control to inform them of what was going on. A crew was quickly gathered on the ground to coach the passenger through what was about to become one of the most incredible moments in aviation history.
The flight was originally scheduled to fly from Las Vegas to Monterey, but was diverted to Bakersfield, despite already being closer to Monterey. This made sense when we look at the data.
Flight Radar data shows the path of the flight going into several holding patterns about a 1.5 hours after take off. The team on the ground were able to help the passenger stabilise the aircraft and get onto a heading towards Bakersfield.
Bakersfield was picked owing to a longer runway and better emergency services, which thankfully were not needed in the end. The woman who had taken control of the plane landed under visual flight rules with the support of experts on the ground. But let’s face it. No amount of coaching can sum up how incredible this woman is for landing a plane with no prior experience.
If anyone is looking for me, I’ll be plugging this route into Flight Simulator and popping on my VR headset to see just how incredible a job this new honorary pilot has done.
