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| Pilot -- "Help, I'm Flying Blind" Guided to Landing by RAF |
| 2008-11-07 |
| Please do click on the link to see the pics Help! I'm flying blind: RAF hero guides down 65-year-old pilot unable to see after a stroke A pilot who suffered a stroke at the controls of his light plane found himself totally blind at 15,000ft. Jim O'Neill, 65, was alone in the cockpit of his four-seater Cessna and frantically radioed a mayday alert. Air traffic controllers attempted to guide him to the nearest airfield, Full Sutton, near York. But so complete was his loss of vision that it proved to be an impossible task. Thankfully, an RAF Tucano used for training military pilots was already in the air and was soon alongside the stricken pilot. Having established radio contact Mr O'Neill was ordered to turn left and right, go lower or straighten up. He was guided the 15 miles to RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire and after three failed attempts he touched down. 'I should not be alive,' said Mr O'Neill, from Marks Tey, near Colchester, Essex. 'I owe my life - and those of dozens of people I could have crash-landed on - to the RAF. From his hospital bed in Romford, where he is undergoing tests, he added: 'It was terrifying. Suddenly I couldn't see the dials in front of me. All there was in front of me was a blur. I was helpless at the controls.' The astonishing drama happened as Mr O'Neill headed for Earls Colne airbase in Colchester after taking off from Glasgow Prestwick airport following a holiday in Scotland. The stroke put pressure on his optic nerves, rendering him completely blind. Flt Lt Terry O'Brien, Linton's Air Traffic Control Officer, said: 'When Mr O'Neill contacted us we knew he had a vision problem but we thought he had been dazzled by the sun. 'He just kept apologising for not being able to land. He kept saying he couldn't see the airfield but I didn't realise he was blind. 'He came in but missed the runway, even though we are on a massive airfield. 'We then realised he couldn't see the runway and clearly the problem was getting bigger and bigger.' Wing Commander Paul Gerrard, 42, a former Tornado display pilot, was then contacted in the Tucano. He flew within 300ft of the Cessna and guided it down. It landed at high speed, bounced twice and stopped at the very end of the runway. Group Captain Mark Hopkins, station commander at Linton-on-Ouse, said: 'The RAF has the best pilots and air traffic controllers in the world. 'Shepherding aircraft in this way is something we do from time to time, but this is a very strange case.' Mr O'Neill runs a travel, hotel and conference booking agency. Doctors are confident some vision will be restored when the swelling in his brain recedes. His wife, Eileen, 63, said: 'It's a miracle Jim is here today. The RAF are heroes. They were so cool and calm and talked Jim down. Without them, he wouldn't be alive. 'We are a very religious family and I believe there was an angel on his shoulder as he came in to land, helping Jim alongside the RAF crew.' |
| Posted by:Sherry |