A few days ago, a random passenger aboard a Cessna 208 Caravan single-engine airplane had the impossible task of landing an airplane at Palm Beach International Airport with zero flight experience, after his pilot had passed out unconscious.
With the help of air traffic controller/flight instructor Robert Morgan guiding the passenger the whole way, he was able to successfully land the plane, with everybody making it out okay.
Could you imagine the guts it takes to do something like this?
Basically knowing that your only option of living is to land a plane that’s thousands of feet in the air, have absolutely zero clue of what the damn hell you’re doing.
We now have more details from the improbable accomplishment, and we now know the passenger flying the plane is 39-year-old Darren Harrison.
He spoke to Savannah Guthrie on “Today,” to discuss what was going through his mind during the nerve wracking moments.
He said that after the pilot lost consciousness, the plane began to nose-dive at a very high speed.
He said:
“I knew if I didn’t react, then we would die… I was pretty calm and collected the whole time because I knew it was a life or death situation.
Either you do what you have to do to control the situation or you’re gonna die.”
Harrison, who works at a flooring company, said his seven-month pregnant wife Britney was his biggest inspiration, along with God:
“The hand of God was on that plane.
I was climbing to the front and that plane was in a dive. I was just looking going, ‘I can’t die today. Britney’s pregnant, I’ve got a baby on the way, not today. Today’s not my day.”
Sure enough, he made a perfect landing.
You can watch the whole segment here:
