It’s every passenger’s nightmare and every avgeek’s dream…the pilots are incapacitated and the flight attendants are looking for a hero to land the plane.
As the flight attendant asks for an off duty pilot, no one rings their call button. Next she asks for someone who knows how to fly. Still no one raises their hand. Finally, she asks for someone who is good with electronics and can listen to directions. You volunteer but could you land the jet?
In a recent experiment by BAA training in Lithuania, an untrained person attempts to land an Airbus A320 with only help from a simulated air traffic controller. The Airbus is a highly automated aircraft that when programmed correctly can accomplish an autoland at specific fields that have a CAT IIIb ILS. In the video, she listens intently to every instruction and does the best she can to execute the instructions. Can she land the jet? We won’t spoil it for you. You’ll have to watch.
