Channel 4 (UK) Documentaries

Mayday: The Passenger Who Landed a Plane (2014x17)

Date de diffusion: Mar 27, 2014

On an early evening in October 2013, 77-year-old great-grandfather John Wildey was being flown home by his pilot friend after a day out in north Lincolnshire. The pilot suddenly started to feel unwell. Ten minutes later he had collapsed at the controls, 1500 feet up in the air. John had no flying experience, and it was starting to get dark. This documentary tells the story of how, against all the odds, he managed to land the plane in pitch darkness, with help from a small team who were scrambled to provide instructions from the ground and air. John's ordeal lasted for over an hour, and was made far harder because he couldn't find the switch for the lights inside the cockpit. He made four attempts to land: his first was on a short, unlit runway that was so dark, he had to abort at the last second. Soon after, he went into an uncontrolled spin, from which he somehow recovered. His next two attempts, after being diverted onto a lit runway, both ended in nail-biting climaxes, and failures, before he finally managed to land. Channel 4 has exclusive access to the recordings of the dramatic 'talk down' tapes, from Humberside Airport Air Traffic Control and an RAF rescue helicopter, and footage from the on-board night-vision camera. Those responsible for talking John through his ordeal describe what happened. John Cameron, who took the initial mayday call, put John's chances of survival at less than 30%. Flt Lt Rebecca Bethell, the captain of the RAF rescue helicopter says: 'flying in the dark would be horrendous for us, and we're trained in all sorts of emergencies. We just wouldn't do that.'