What: 1982 King Air 55 owned by White Equipment Leasing flying en route from Marco Island to Jackson Mississippi
Where: Fort Myers Southwest Florida International Airport
When: Sunday April 12
Who: 6
Why: When the pilot passed out midflight, a passenger took the controls and safely landed the plane. The pilot died of cardiac arrest prior to landing.
Landing safely was a group effort. The on board passenger who landed the plane had a pilot’s license but was not certified to fly a high-performance turboprop and had no experience flying this type of aircraft. The Fort Myers air traffic controller who talked the pilot down was getting HIS direction from a Connecticut pilot reading the landing checklist from a King Air manual.
Southwest Airlines flight 118 had to divert and make an emergency landing in Amarillo, Texas, on March 18th.
