Posted on 05/28/2011 9:01:04 PM PDT by TheDingoAteMyBaby
A woman took over the controls of a small airplane when her pilot-husband started having trouble breathing and speaking on a flight from California to Colorado, authorities said.
The Federal Aviation Administration released details and audio of the incident Thursday, which happened on a trip from San Bernardino, Calif. to Colorado Springs May 17.
Ground controllers in Colorado and a Great Lakes Airlines pilot in another plane helped her guide the smaller craft.
The specifics of the man's medical problem weren't available.
An air traffic controller in Longmont, Colo., noticed the 70-year-old pilot appeared to have difficulty breathing during a routine conversation they were having.
Documents released Thursday indicate the pilot may have had hypoxia, which is when the body is deprived of an adequate supply of oxygen.
The woman said her husband was slurring his speech and was unable to push the buttons.
The controller said he wasn't able to make contact with the pilot after the plane began to make erratic maneuvers.
The pilot's wife got on the radio to say her husband had been incapacitated and could not fly, and she said she did not know how.
The woman can be heard saying, "I can't talk much cause I got to hold the oxygen to my face and the mic, and I can't tell what's going on."
"My main concern was getting the Cirrus down to a lower altitude where the pilot would be able to breathe in more oxygen and become more coherent," Charlie Rohrer says. "I also wanted to keep the pilot’s wife calm so she would be able to handle the aircraft until the pilot began to recover."
"While I communicated with the pilot and his wife, other Denver center personnel provided me with information on this particular Cirrus model, directed other planes in the area and arranged to keep additional flights out of the sector so I could focus on helping the people in the Cirrus," Rohrer says.
A pilot from a Great Lakes airplane heading to New Mexico began flying toward the single-engine Cirrus SR22 to offer assistance.
"The Great Lakes flight crew helped immensely by providing the Cirrus pilot with advice and his wife with information on how to control the plane," says Rohrer. "I was very glad to have them on frequency."
The commercial pilot managed to instruct the woman on how to turn the autopilot on and begin a controlled descent.
The FAA says the autopilot didn't work properly.
The man regained consciousness as the plane descended, though the Great Lakes Airlines pilot reported that he was incoherent and argumentative.
"I can tell by how he's talking, he's conscious, but he can't think straight whatsoever," said the commercial pilot.
At one point, the plane swerved away from its emergency landing route and began heading toward the high terrain of the San Juan mountains. As the plane began to drop, the controller attempted to reach the passenger so she could turn the plane away from the mountains. The controller eventually guided the plane toward lower terrain.
The man who was experiencing difficulty recovered in time as the plane descended and was able to land safely in Farmington, N.M.
Both of the times I’ve had hypoxia it’s been very noticeable in it’s early stages. Both were due to slow pressurization failures. Several chamber rides prior to those experiences helped me immediately recognize what what was happening.
Feeling a little stupid? Put on O2, check cabin press and head for the daisies.
/johnny
My wife would say this about me under any circumstance.
Passed out, eh? This reminds me of the movie "It's A Mad Mad Mad World" when Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney gets Jim Backus to fly them and he gets drunk and hits his head. How many Old Fashions did this pilot imbibe on the flight?
Wonder what altitude they were at.
70 might be getting too old for 10K feet.
Joya ping.
Praise God for their safe landing! How terrifying!
Autopilot not working correctly; pressurization not working correctly; glad nothing else b/c:
three strikers, you’re out ???
glad folks on the ground were thinking quick on their feet and helped.
Petroni is also the best character in a disaster movie. I love his cigar chomping, American can-do attitude. Sorry for my digression here.
INDEED.
Bookmark
ATC contacted the plane when it was around 16,000 feet. Seems the old man’s oxygen system didn’t work as planned. It’s not hard to go loopy at 16k within a few minutes for most people.
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