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By Soo Kim
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Pilots are trained to deal with a range of in-flight emergencies to ensure the safety of their passengers. But what if the plane's pilots fall ill during a flight? Could a passenger take over and safely land the aircraft?
One pilot (@pilotpete.fly on TikTok) took on this burning question in a viral TikTok video, which has received over 558,000 views since it was shared on May 24. A caption with the post reads: "Could you land it?"
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The pilot says in the clip: "People are always asking me, 'Pete, if the pilots were to become incapacitated on a flight, will the people in the back or just a regular 'old mug' be able to land the plane?'"
He continues: "I'm not sure about that. The answer's probably not. But I will say this—you have to be able to talk to the outside world first, to tell them what's going on to try and get help to get you to land the plane."
A July 2023 study in Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics, says that "many aviation accidents and incidents are caused by mental incapacitation, particularly when the pilots are suddenly surprised or startled."
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Mental incapacitation is described as "a temporary degradation in a pilot's mental abilities, often due to stressful situations," the study says.
An August 2013 study in the International Archives of Occupation and Environmental Health noted that "medical in-flight incapacitation is a very rare event."
The study, which looked at whether pilots have an "age-dependent increased risk of incapacitation due to medical reasons," found that whether an increase in in-flight incapacitation results in more accidents "or can be compensated for by error reduction through experience cannot be answered."
The TikTok post comes amid an ongoing pilot shortage as the industry struggles to keep up with the demand for air travel, which has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Last year, Faye Malarkey Black, the president and CEO of the Regional Airline Association, warned a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee about "the coming tsunami of pilot retirements."
She noted that "over the next 15 years, nearly 50 percent of the commercial airline workforce will be forced to retire because they will reach the age of 65."
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Black also said that "required retirements will peak in 2029 at 3,750, when pilots aged 58 today turn 65. Thereafter, retirements remain high, staying above 2023's rate for the foreseeable future."
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According to Boeing's pilot and technician outlook report for 2023-2042, the industry will need 649,000 new pilots to replace the aging workforce and maintain the global commercial fleet over the next 20 years.
What Happens When Pilots Become Incapacitated?
The pilot in the clip says that if you ever find yourself in this situation and you need to fly the plane, you should be "looking for this button right here." The video shows him pointing to a button on the bottom-left corner of a deck of switches.
"To talk, you press this down, you talk into the microphone," the pilot explains while holding the microphone of a headphone toward his mouth.
"You left air traffic control know that you might have a little bit of a problem and you need help landing the plane," he says as the clip ends.
Tony Shen, a former pilot who is the president of the Wayman Aviation Academy, told Newsweek in January 2023 that if both pilots fall ill during a flight and there isn't a third pilot aboard, the flight attendant will look for passengers with flight experience.
"No cabin crew members have been trained to either control the plane or communicate with ATC [air traffic control]," he said.
Professor Dan Bubb from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, who is a historian and former airline pilot, previously told Newsweek: "It is extremely rare that both pilots fall ill during a flight. Pilots order different meals for that reason. Some pilots bring their own food they know is safe. If the illness is severe and happens midflight, the pilot(s) will declare an emergency and land at the nearest airport to be met by medical personnel."
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via TikTok and email. The video has not been independently verified.
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