Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: Wolfala on November 07, 2008, 03:25:38 PM
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There is nothing new under the sun, but has anyone heard of such as this before?
http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/11/07/pilot-goes-blind-in-mid-air-but-raf-talk-him-down-safely-86908-20875670/
Pilot goes blind in mid-air but RAF talk him down safely
Nov 7 2008 By Stephen Moyes
A PILOT who suddenly went blind at 15,000ft was guided in to land by an RAF crew.
A fighter jet was scrambled to fly alongside the stricken plane and the crew talked him down.
Glasgow-born businessman Jim O'Neill, 65, is thought to have suffered a stroke at the controls of his four-seater Cessna jet.
The RAF men came to the rescue after he had already made three abortive attempts to land.
Last night, Jim was being treated at the brain specialist unit of Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex.
It is thought a pool of blood at the back of his brain put pressure on his optic nerves, blinding him.
His Cessna careered off the runway on touchdown at RAF Linton-on-Ouse near York but he escaped without a scratch after his plane shuddered to a halt on the grass airfield. He had taken off from Prestwick airport and was heading to Earls Colne, near Colchester, Essex, when disaster struck last Friday.
Air traffic controllers first attempted to guide him to Full Sutton airfield near York.
But three landing attempts there had to be aborted.
Last night, Jim said from his hospital bed: "I should not be alive. I owe my life - and those of dozens of people I could have crash landed on - to the RAF. It was terrifying.
"One minute I was enjoying the view, the next I couldn't see the dials in front of me.
"I thought it must be down to bright sunshine in the cockpit but slowly I made the horrifying discovery that I had gone blind.
"All there was in front ofme was a blur. I realised I was helpless at the controls."
His wife Eileen, 63, said: "It is a miracle that Jim is here today. The RAF are heroes.
"They were so cool and calm and talked Jim down. Without them, Jim would not be alive.
"I am only just coming to terms with what has happened. Jim is not out of the woods because he has had astroke and he still can't see.
"I believe that there was an angel on his shoulder as he came in to land.
"The whole story is amazing and it does not bear thinking about what could have happened."
The RAF said a fighter plane used for training pilots was sent up to intercept Jim's Cessna. It had been modified so it was able to travel at a slow enough speed to fly alongside the Cessna.
Jim raised the alarm with a mayday alert over the radio and the RAF jet was scrambled within minutes.
Son Douglas, 37, said: "My father could not see anything at 15,000ft. He would not have made out a hand in front of him, let alone see a runway. It is a miracle he is alive.
"The RAF crew were telling him to turn left and right, to straighten up and lower the plane, until eventually he made it down.
"Without everyone staying calm, he could have landed on a house, school or anywhere. He is being very philosophical and knows he is a lucky man."
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:salute RAF
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read that story in the paper today . Amazing stuff,
I wonder how many of us can try to land with our eyes shut in AH?
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Bruv, we'd need some type of start out...lined up with the runway? Middle of nowhere at 5K? I'd love to try it.
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you would need a friendly flying formation giving constant instruction and guidance. No autopilot allowed.
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Oustanding job by the RAF and the controllers both. :salute
It must have been a turbo Cessna to get up to 15k. Lucky guy.
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The story I read, the RAF pilot was in a Tucano prop trainer, not a jet.
Still a cool story though.
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I wonder how many of us can try to land with our eyes shut in AH?
I can't even land w/my eyes open in AH.
That was incredible that those guys were able to talk him down. Great job on the pilot's part as well ~ to have encountered such an emergency and had the ability to remain calm enough to follow the guidance instructions. :) Nicely done on all parts. :aok
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Similar story in the FAF : A French Jaguar pilot got a bird strike that shatered the front windshield and the pilot visor. Blinded, the pilot made it home and landed under the direction of his wingman.
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yup Tucanos are based at Linton-on-Ouse where they landed, used for basic training for fast jets before adv training in Wales with Hawks. afaik he was handheld to short final, then on his own under 200' agl because low vis isnt great in Tucanos, so he landed using the force :pray not sure why they couldn't have an LSO at the end of the field tho.
great work from the pilot and the RAF :salute
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I just hope he survives the stroke.
Could you imagine surviving the plane ride only to croak due to the stroke?
Bloody good show by all involved tho.
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this is cool - the Tucano must have hit "Save" after they towered out, cus the BBC has the vox recording (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7716703.stm) of the landing :D
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I wonder how he kept wings level if he couldnt se the instuments or horizon?
That's one lucky bloke.
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That would be a very interesting radio tape to listen to! I expect they would have treated the approach like an ASR approach and directed the pilot to Turn L/R, Stop Turn and make various airspeed/attitude adjustments that can only be made by:
-Another Pilot.
-Another Pilot who has a close visual identification on your aircraft.
-Another Pilot who shouldn't have to buy a beer for themselves anytime soon!
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Bruv, we'd need some type of start out...lined up with the runway? Middle of nowhere at 5K? I'd love to try it.
Iv did it a few times and helped a few times as well. Each time we had a PW and kept blacking out every time we made an approach so one person would join the plane and guide the other in for a belly landing.
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I heard the pilot had a LSD flashback of Whoopie Goldberg naked during flight. Cue brain aneurysm. :salute