Imagine attending your first practical lesson at flying a plane only for your instructor to pass out while you are still airborne.
This sounds like a harrowing experience straight out of an Air Force One blockbuster but as it turns out, it actually happened to one aviation student.
Trainee pilot Max Sylvester was left to take care of himself inside a small aircraft and he was forced to land the plane in what was his very first lesson.
According to reports from CNN, the instructor blacked out, leaving the 29-year-old student with the “simple” task of landing an aircraft at first attempt.
Max sprung into action and made a distress call which luckily went through and with the aid of air traffic controllers, he was able to land the aircraft.
A student pilot has calmly described the frightening mid air emergency in which he was forced to land a light plane – after his instructor collapsed. Father of 3 Max Sylvester says he was fueled by adrenaline but insists he will fly again – hoping to become a commercial pilot. pic.twitter.com/gG62Yq0W6G
— Natalie Forrest (@nat_forrest) September 2, 2019
An audio accessed by CNN revealed an exchange between Max and one of the air traffic controllers where he declared it was his first time.
“Your job right now is just to keep focusing on that aircraft,” the controller told the trainee pilot in an attempt to keep him sane throughout the entire process.
Remarkably, however, he was rather calm and he somehow managed to land the aircraft safely. Speaking on the ordeal, Max said he did what he had to do at the time because there really wasn’t much of an option.
“These are one of the things you just have to deal with. I used my knowledge in doing what I love and all that kept us going, If I hadn’t started, we wouldn’t be here,” he narrated He was also quick to admit that despite the heroics, he was a huge ball of panic throughout the incident.
“I was pretty messed up in the head but I knew our instructor wasn’t doing very well and I knew it was just a matter of getting us to the ground,” he went on.
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