What if both pilots become incapacitated?

[Blaze]

Or a "ghost plane". Interesting case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalp4Lp0apI Was wondering if the control towers (air traffic controllers) are trained for this very scenario where both pilots are incapacitated and possibly guide a civilian into possibly safely landing the plane? Or quickly find someone that can. Assuming someone (passenger) on board has survived.

 

[dparm]

Go rewatch the film Airplane!, as this was already explained in detail:

 

[exShuttlemech]

Payne Stewart.

 

[oil_film_movies]

A flight attendant almost saved this 737 in 2005: "Two F-16 fighter aircraft from the Hellenic Air Force 111th Combat Wing were scrambled from Nea Anchialos Air Base to establish visual contact.[19] They intercepted the passenger jet at 11:24 and observed that the first officer was slumped motionless at the controls and the captain's seat was empty.[20] They also reported that oxygen masks were dangling in the passenger cabin.[18] At 11:49, flight attendant Andreas Prodromou entered the cockpit and sat down in the captain's seat, having remained conscious by using a portable oxygen supply.[21][22] Prodromou held a UK Commercial Pilot License,[23] but was not qualified to fly the Boeing 737. Crash investigators concluded that Prodromou's experience was insufficient for him to gain control of the aircraft under the circumstances.[22] Prodromou waved at the F16s very briefly, but almost as soon as he entered the cockpit, the left engine flamed out due to fuel exhaustion[22] and the plane left the holding pattern and started to descend.[24] Ten minutes after the loss of power from the left engine, the right engine also flamed out,[24] and just before 12:04 the aircraft crashed into hills near Grammatiko, 40 km (25 mi) from Athens, killing all 121 passengers and crew on-board.[24]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helios_Airways_Flight_522

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: exShuttlemech

Payne Stewart.

That plane crashed just 2 miles from my friend's house in South Dakota.

 

[Linctex]

Originally Posted By: oil_film_movies

but almost as soon as he entered the cockpit, the left engine flamed out due to fuel exhaustion...., the right engine also flamed out,

If only he'd been an hour sooner! A plane is just a glider without fuel. He was in a REALLY LOUSY situation!!

 

[Bud]

If you are on the plane, KYAG.

 

[itguy08]

With the autopilots of today could they talk a civilian through enabling it and putting in the coordinates of the nearest airport and have the plane do the rest?

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: Blaze

Or a "ghost plane". Interesting case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yalp4Lp0apI Was wondering if the control towers (air traffic controllers) are trained for this very scenario where both pilots are incapacitated and possibly guide a civilian into possibly safely landing the plane? Or quickly find someone that can. Assuming someone (passenger) on board has survived.

The air traffic controllers don't know enough about the airplane to talk anyone through a landing. They know how to tell pilots where to go...but not how to fly that model of plane...so, no... If you could get someone who knew the airplane really well, perhaps that person would be able to talk a person through a landing, but trust me, after talking folks through landing a 757 and 747 simulator, without being able to see what that person is doing, it's going to be impossible. Imagine talking someone through surgery, except that you don't know surgery, and you can't see what they're doing... Most folks wouldn't be able to operate the radio well enough to talk to anyone on the ground.

 

[Astro14]

Here’s my airplane. See the radio management panel? I’ll wait... Sorry, BITOG turned it 90 degrees, but I'm not certain that makes any difference...

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: itguy08

With the autopilots of today could they talk a civilian through enabling it and putting in the coordinates of the nearest airport and have the plane do the rest?

No... See the picture above. Let me know 1. when you're ready to tune the radio and 2. to what frequency you would like to tune it. When you've got that figured out, installing an approach and configuring the airplane (how are you with flap reference speeds?) for the automatic landing is not going to be as easy as the radios...and there isn't any air traffic controller that knows enough about the Boeing 767 to be able to help you fly it while a real pilot is found.

 

[cjcride]

I bet it's in the first row of panels just below the windscreen. PS Nice looking Office

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: cjcride

I bet it's in the first row of panels just below the windscreen. PS Nice looking Office

It is a great office, but the radio management panels are on the center console, just above the audio control panel. One tunes the radios (we've got about 8, including navigation, but excluding SATCOM) and the other allows you to listen, or broadcast on one of those radios. So, you've got to tune the radio, and then set up your ACP to be able to talk/hear.

 

[eljefino]

They'll con the civilian into a water <span style="text-decoration: line-through">landing</span> crash away from ground population.

 

[Astro14]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

They'll con the civilian into a water landing crash away from ground population.

If the civilian is able to figure out how to talk to someone outside the airplane...which I consider extremely unlikely...then perhaps someone could talk them into flying the airplane out over the water. But since they won't be able to talk to anyone, I think the point is moot. Your best bet is an experienced pilot, riding in the back. The flight attendant who "almost saved" Helios 525 held a commercial license, and couldn't figure out how to get the airplane out of a holding pattern, much less descend the airplane...even with that commercial license... Look, if you can't figure out how to make it go left/right OR up/down, your chances of actually landing it are, well...zero...

 

[itguy08]

Thanks Astro14. Always good getting the scoop from someone who does it for a living. I was thinking more along the lines of "put the headset on" and it was already configured to talk to the controllers. Sounds like you're screwed no matter what if both pilots get incapacitated. Do they still have a 3rd engineer or other flight crew member like they used to? Any chance of them helping?

 

[Leo99]

Is it true that the pilot and co-pilot cannot both eat the same foods on the plane?

 

[IndyIan]

Originally Posted By: eljefino

They'll con the civilian into a water landing crash away from ground population.

Yeah, an actual airport is probably not the best place to do your first landing with no training. In February up north here I might pick a big frozen lake and just land wheels up and pray. If you stayed calm I'd guess you could fly around burning fuel and learning to fly by sight, figuring out the stall speed with the flaps in the wrong position (if you couldn't figure that out) and just fly it onto the ice at a low rate of descent. I imagine even turning off the auto pilot wouldn't be that simple though...

 

[CKN]

Its pretty much agreed upon that landing a plane for someone with no experience is something that can't be done. Maybe a small aircraft pilot could do it.....maybe.

 

[eyeofthetiger]

Every airline passenger should practice landing their particular model aircraft on Microsoft Flight Sim. Load it on a laptop computer and bring it as a carry on along with a yoke and pedals.