A Woman with No Flight Experience Landed a Plane After the Pilot Had a Heart Attack (2 photos)

Yvonne Kinane-Wells made an emergency landing following instructions from the air traffic controller. The woman had never flown an aircraft before.





Yvonne Kinane-Wells, 69, from Las Vegas (Nevada), who had no flying experience, took control of the plane and landed it safely at an airport in California after her pilot husband, Eliot Alper, suffered a heart attack.

A woman called the controller to help her land a propeller-driven plane while her husband lay in the pilot's seat next to her at 5,900 feet (1.8 km) above sea level. The American had never flown a plane before, but after the pilot became incapacitated, she had no other choice.

The couple were flying from Henderson Airport in Las Vegas to Monterey, California, when Alper began having seizures. The controller on the other end of the line instructed Keenane-Wells on the landing, advising her to add power, then directed her to the nearest airport.

"We're going to set you up so that when you level off from the turn, you'll head straight to Bakersfield Airport. Is that okay with you?" he asked the woman.

A few minutes later, the American successfully made her first emergency landing.



Ambulance crews on the ground used their emergency vehicles to intercept the landing plane. Yvonne covered the entire 11,000-foot (3.3 km) runway, driving a bit off-road, before coming to a stop.

The Kern County Fire Department immediately transported the still unconscious Alper to the hospital. His current condition is unknown. Airport Director Ron Brewster noted that he had never seen a landing like Keenane-Wells.

"As far as I know, this is an unprecedented case. I have never seen anything like this in my entire career," he said.