Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated • Hacker News Board

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#61

Post by bluedays » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

asdfman123 wrote: post #22

I bet this was a guy raised on video games. I was about to make a joke about it but I'm actually serious. Once I, a former Houstonian with no experience driving on ice, was driving through the snowy mountains and lost control of my car. Instead of panicking, my video-game-induced laser focus kicked in and I calmly piloted the car until the wheels gained traction and I could park the car on the side of the road. But l…

I’m pretty video games saved my life while driving, too. Once I was driving down the highway at 70 miles per hour and the car in front of me stopped on a dime. I always maintain a good distance from the car in front of me but I knew for sure if I would have just hit the breaks I would have hit him. I wound up swerving into the next lane with a reaction time of under a second only to drive by a six car pile up which included the car that had been in front of me. It is one of the scariest incidents I have ever had in my life while driving.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#62

Post by TomVDB » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

civil_engineer wrote: post #13

Pilot here. I'm floored that a person with no flying experience could put this airplane down without a scratch. Air traffic controllers are not necessarily pilots, but luckily, this one was a pilot and certified instructor. ATC and passenger worked through a stressful situation to produce an amazing outcome. Bravo!

Frankly, I’m not super surprised? I had a few hours of flight instruction before I dropped out (it just didn’t fascinate me), and what struck me was that you’re doing a landing during the first lesson.

As long as the landing strip is long enough, you can take things very slowly.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#63

Post by tragictrash » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

wl wrote: post #50

tragictrash wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would wager a small plane would be easier to land than a commercial airliner partially due to the fewer number of switches in the cockpit.

Commercial airliners have autoland systems. Much less common in smaller planes.

The supposed scenario is manual landing, don't know if that was mentioned in the op

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#64

Post by djohnston » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:05 PM UTC

jmkni wrote: post #53

Stupid question, but could this guy end up in some sort of legal trouble? He's obviously a hero and saved the lives of everyone on board, but it's still illegal to fly a plane while unqualified, right?

Definitely not illegal in an emergency situation like this.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#65

Post by Nextgrid » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:06 PM UTC

pc86 wrote: post #52

hugh-avherald wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Large aircraft are one thing, but most folks could land a light aircraft most of the time in good weather with barely any training. But most is like 80% and there's probably a 10% chance of dying or at least badly damaging the aircraft.

Not nitpicking because I agree with you, but in an emergency situation like this if you can walk away from the airplane, the condition of it is irrelevant. So I think at least 85-90% of the time (in good weather with a crosswind component below 7-8kts or so) everyone would be okay. And absolutely agreed on the large aircraft part. I'm a private pilot, but no instrument cert yet, with only piston single experience - n…

I think the first obstacle for a layman to land a plane is to not panic and figure out how to work the radio (without pressing the wrong thing and accidentally shutting down the engines or something equally disastrous) so they can then follow the instructions calmly.

I’d expect most people that would fail would fail at this stage - if they can get past that, their odds improve a lot.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#66

Post by tadfisher » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:06 PM UTC

sandworm101 wrote: post #36

asdfman123 wrote: post #22

I bet this was a guy raised on video games. I was about to make a joke about it but I'm actually serious. Once I, a former Houstonian with no experience driving on ice, was driving through the snowy mountains and lost control of my car. Instead of panicking, my video-game-induced laser focus kicked in and I calmly piloted the car until the wheels gained traction and I could park the car on the side of the road. But l…

"Moore is suspected of being responsible for approximately 100 thefts in Washington, Idaho, and Canada, including bicycles, automobiles, light aircraft , and speedboats.[15] It is believed that he learned how to fly small planes by reading aircraft manuals, handbooks, watching a "How to fly a small airplane" DVD, and playing flight simulator computer games .[17] One plane he stole was a Cessna 182, FAA registration n…

However, he crashed every plane he flew.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#67

Post by Swizec » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:07 PM UTC

asdfman123 wrote: post #22

I bet this was a guy raised on video games. I was about to make a joke about it but I'm actually serious. Once I, a former Houstonian with no experience driving on ice, was driving through the snowy mountains and lost control of my car. Instead of panicking, my video-game-induced laser focus kicked in and I calmly piloted the car until the wheels gained traction and I could park the car on the side of the road. But l…

I believe Formula E and various other racing series have had huge success with hiring drivers out of e-sports. If you’re fast in a sim, you only have to add the physical prowess and stamina to race. That’s much cheaper than spending a decade in minor racing series.

Sauce after quick googling: https://www.popsci.com/story/technology/video-gamers-new-rac...

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#68

Post by helloworld11 » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:07 PM UTC

jmkni wrote: post #53

Stupid question, but could this guy end up in some sort of legal trouble? He's obviously a hero and saved the lives of everyone on board, but it's still illegal to fly a plane while unqualified, right?

This is why prosecutorial discretion exists. Yes, he could, but mitigating circunstancies can and often are considered, and local prosecutors or responsible regulators (the FAA in this case) simply decide not to file charges. Police often do the same in smaller cases. Example; if someone breaks a car or house window to save an occupant that's trapped from a fire. That's vandalism, but rarely prosecuted if it happens as far as I know.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#69

Post by etskinner » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:07 PM UTC

jmkni wrote: post #53

Stupid question, but could this guy end up in some sort of legal trouble? He's obviously a hero and saved the lives of everyone on board, but it's still illegal to fly a plane while unqualified, right?

It's likely that there's an exception for emergency situations.

In this case 'everyone on board' was 2 people, him and the incapacitated pilot.

Re: Passenger with “no idea how to fly” lands plane after pilot incapacitated

#70

Post by buildsjets » Wed, May 11, 2022, 5:08 PM UTC

jmkni wrote: post #53

Stupid question, but could this guy end up in some sort of legal trouble? He's obviously a hero and saved the lives of everyone on board, but it's still illegal to fly a plane while unqualified, right?

Luckily, the FAA has a regulation for that. 14 CFR § 91.3 (b):

(b) In an in-flight emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot in command may deviate from any rule of this part to the extent required to meet that emergency.