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10-09-2013, 12:27 PM
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A pilot who fell ill at the controls of his plane forcing his passenger to land the light aircraft has died, police have said.
The man collapsed in the cockpit of the plane after taking off, leaving the "inexperienced" passenger to make an emergency landing.
The plane landed at Humberside Airport under the guidance of instructors called in by air traffic controllers.
Police said they were unable to confirm the cause of death.
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "The pilot of the plane sadly died last night.
"We are not treating it as suspicious and we are in a position whereby formal identification will take place later today."
He added that a file would be prepared for the coroner.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the North Lincolnshire airport after a distress call was made from the light aircraft at about 18:25 BST.
Two flying instructors were called in to advise the passenger, named only as "John", on how to bring the plane down and a RAF Sea King helicopter was scrambled to provide assistance.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
The man is nothing short of a hero”
Richard Tomlinson Friend of the pilot and passenger
One of them, Roy Murray, said: "I think without any sort of talk-down he would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it."
The passenger and pilot were the only people on board the Cessna 172 aircraft, which had taken off from Sandtoft Airfield 25 miles (40km) away.
It is believed the two men had flown to Skegness and were returning to Sandtoft when the pilot collapsed.
Speaking at a press conference earlier Mr Murray said the novice flyer did four circuits of the airport before landing at about 19:30.
He said: "The gentleman was called John, that's all I knew.
"We had to get him to do two to three circuits. The last one was not very good so we told him to go round again and on the fourth one he managed it.
"He did a beautiful landing in my opinion.
"He was calm. He was answering the calls I made to him quite professionally.
"I would not be frightened to fly with him."
Eyewitnesses described seeing sparks as the plane landed.
Stuart Sykes, who saw the aircraft land, said: "It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt."
Two incoming flights were delayed while the aircraft was removed from the runway.
Richard Tomlinson, a friend of the pilot and his passenger, told BBC Radio Sheffield the passenger was "nothing short of a hero".
He said: "For somebody who is not a pilot but has been around airfields and been a passenger on several occasions to take control is nothing short of phenomenal.
"The man is nothing short of a hero."
Mr Tomlinson, himself an amateur pilot, said of the man who died: was a "very experienced pilot".
He added: "He had been flying for many years.
"Only this week I was sat having a cup of tea and airfield banter [with both men].
"They were both very funny gentlemen to have a conversation with.
"It is very, very sad news."
A pilot who fell ill at the controls of his plane forcing his passenger to land the light aircraft has died, police have said.
The man collapsed in the cockpit of the plane after taking off, leaving the "inexperienced" passenger to make an emergency landing.
The plane landed at Humberside Airport under the guidance of instructors called in by air traffic controllers.
Police said they were unable to confirm the cause of death.
A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "The pilot of the plane sadly died last night.
"We are not treating it as suspicious and we are in a position whereby formal identification will take place later today."
He added that a file would be prepared for the coroner.
Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the North Lincolnshire airport after a distress call was made from the light aircraft at about 18:25 BST.
Two flying instructors were called in to advise the passenger, named only as "John", on how to bring the plane down and a RAF Sea King helicopter was scrambled to provide assistance.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote
The man is nothing short of a hero”
Richard Tomlinson Friend of the pilot and passenger
One of them, Roy Murray, said: "I think without any sort of talk-down he would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it."
The passenger and pilot were the only people on board the Cessna 172 aircraft, which had taken off from Sandtoft Airfield 25 miles (40km) away.
It is believed the two men had flown to Skegness and were returning to Sandtoft when the pilot collapsed.
Speaking at a press conference earlier Mr Murray said the novice flyer did four circuits of the airport before landing at about 19:30.
He said: "The gentleman was called John, that's all I knew.
"We had to get him to do two to three circuits. The last one was not very good so we told him to go round again and on the fourth one he managed it.
"He did a beautiful landing in my opinion.
"He was calm. He was answering the calls I made to him quite professionally.
"I would not be frightened to fly with him."
Eyewitnesses described seeing sparks as the plane landed.
Stuart Sykes, who saw the aircraft land, said: "It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt."
Two incoming flights were delayed while the aircraft was removed from the runway.
Richard Tomlinson, a friend of the pilot and his passenger, told BBC Radio Sheffield the passenger was "nothing short of a hero".
He said: "For somebody who is not a pilot but has been around airfields and been a passenger on several occasions to take control is nothing short of phenomenal.
"The man is nothing short of a hero."
Mr Tomlinson, himself an amateur pilot, said of the man who died: was a "very experienced pilot".
He added: "He had been flying for many years.
"Only this week I was sat having a cup of tea and airfield banter [with both men].
"They were both very funny gentlemen to have a conversation with.
"It is very, very sad news."