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It is remarkable what some people can muster under the most seemingly impossible situations.

That musician saving all 579 guests onboard a sinking cruise ship off the coast of South Africa back in 1991 as the captain and crew went AWOL springs to mind.

Or, more recently, when an inexperienced passenger took over from an incapacitated pilot to land a plane safely in Florida.

That happened yesterday afternoon according to CNN, which obtained audio of the situation from LiveATC.net.

The passenger could be heard panicking on the line with air traffic control, saying that he doesn’t know how to fly the plane:

“I’ve got a serious situation here,” the unidentified passenger said in the audio. “My pilot has gone incoherent, and I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”

In case you find yourself in a similar situation, memories these instructions for landing a plane:

“Try to hold the wings level and see if you can start descending for me. Push forward on the controls and descend at a very slow rate,” the air traffic controller can be heard telling the man.

Try to follow the coast either north or southbound. We’re trying to locate you.”

The audio also captured the air traffic controller’s bewilderment that they were able to make the plane touch down without a trained pilot behind the wheel:

“You just witnessed a couple of passengers land that plane,” the tower operator can be heard telling an American Airlines pilot waiting to take off for Charlotte, North Carolina.

“Did you say the passengers landed the airplane?” the American Airlines pilot asked. “Oh, my God. Great job,” he said.

Just great? How about “fricken excellent job, give that man a Bell’s or two”?

Some footage of the landing can be seen in this news report:

In a statement shared by the Federal Aviation Administration, only two people were on board the single-engine Cessna 208, so that unlikely passenger had no choice but to take over.

The pilot is said to have had a “possible medical issue”.

[source:cnn]