Pilot loses consciousness and dies mid-flight from Florida to Louisiana. ATC's talk him through diverting to Ft. Meyers which has the longest runway of any airport in the area - 12,000 ft. The passenger turned pilot has some flying experience on single engine 2-seaters. The plane he's now piloting is a King Air 200 twin turboprop - much larger and much heavier requiring higher speed to land to avoid stalling and falling out of the sky. This "good ol' boy" does an incredible job of following instructions and keeping it together and remaining calm with 5 other people on board. You can hear the stress and anxiety build in his voice as he gets closer to actually having to land. The entire ordeal lasts about 35 mins. Part 1 provides the gist of the situation and gets you familiar with what's going on. After the first couple of minutes you're up to speed and can then move on to part 2 without really missing any pertinent info. Part 2 begins with the plane being handed off to Ft. Meyers center which is when he has to actually begin maneuvers and making critical adjustments to prepare to land.
Most people will find this rather boring and long but those who are familiar with the intricacies and difficulties associated with controlling and landing a plane will enjoy this.
I was more nervous than the passenger flying the plane as I listened to this!
Major kudos to this guy for how well he did given the dead guy next to him who he has to push back off the controls twice during the situation and having never piloted anything like this plane and knowing the lives of his entire family are literally in his hands!
FAA released audio of the entire ordeal from the time the passenger jumps into the co-pilot's seat.
Part 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aetmIch34M4
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz9sNwmeCws
