Preliminary Report: Passenger Pilot Lands King Air

Hawker Beechcraft King Air B200, Fort Myers, Fla. April 12, 2009–The Beech King Air B200, registered to White Equipment Leasing, was landed by a passenger who was not rated in the B200, after the pilot became ill shortly after takeoff from Marco Island Airport (Fla.). The aircraft’s owner, a certified private pilot with airplane single-engine land rating and one of four passengers on board, noticed the pilot became unresponsive around 10 minutes into the flight and took the controls. The owner then contacted Miami Center and declared an emergency. Air traffic controllers advised the owner on how to disengage the aircraft’s autopilot and talked him down from more than 17,000 feet msl. After a 15-mile-long final approach, the aircraft landed safely. The airline transport pilot who had been flying the airplane until his incapacitation was pronounced dead after arrival.