I was the pilot of this flight and want to thank you for doing an accurate account of what happened. I am more than blessed to still be here and owe my life to all these guys. We are forever connected !!
Thank you very much Ken. You definitely had an incredible group of people who stepped up and performed perfectly to achieve the best possible outcome to what could have been an awful tragedy. I try to research all of the available information as thoroughly as possible before re-creating an aviation emergency (it helps that I've been a licensed pilot since 1979). Then I try to tell the story as concisely and quickly as possible to stay within the limited attention spans of viewers. This is the first pilot incapacitation event that I've worked on where the pilot lived to fly another day. That really makes for a happy ending with the best possible outcome for everyone involved. I recently saw you on the Today Show. I sounds like you are recovering very well and that is great news. Thank you so much for your comment and for hanging in there. Kindest regards, Tim
Tim, I have watched many accounts of our incident all over the media and most have many of the facts wrong. I was really impressed with your detail and accuracy. It shows how much research you did and that you didn’t give in to speculation. I definitely feel blessed to be alive and able to fly again. The Today Show was a way to share some good news in a world filled with tragedies. I look forward to seeing more of your videos. Keep up the great work !!
Lucky you, I saw a joke recently of a guy telling the crew he had extensive hours on Microsoft Flight Simulator... seems this might actually be a decent idea just in case. :)
What a great story of calm in an emergency. And also of the amazing professional performance and aviation safety systems and aircraft design. I was a radio tech with an international airport, the emergency transceiver is a triple redundant system almost never used. Glad to hear you worked it as you did. Smart thing to keep contact.
"I can't die today" is the ultimate motivator. Being able to maintain a focused and calm attitude in a crisis sealed the deal. This story brought tears to my eyes. God bless all involved in this unexpected crisis.
His response cracked me up... I was not expecting him to be asked that... But I can see why they would ask him.. Short of him being on the wrong side of the hash marks and numbers he aced the landing being untrained... Get that man some training and I bet he could put any aircraft down on a thumb tack,...
Thanks All for your professional support and getting these guys down on the ground ❤❤❤ A retired F-111f 48th TFW USAFE acft maintainer. All parties involved give kudos!!! Ssgt Ellis. You guys Rock!!!!
It's such a wonderful story. Everyone pulled together and made this happen. Robert and Darren especially, handled this situation so well. So glad that Darren was able to meet his baby girl.😊
I’m not a pilot but I did spend 35 years as a trauma nurse. I learned early that in any scary situation, stay calm. Ur brain then gets super focused. Great job everyone.
That was the most amazing story. The calmness he exhibited along with the air traffic controllers was unbelievable. I had a coworker who had an aortic aneurysm only 50 yards from the hospital and he barely made it. Miracles abound.
Fantastic job from everyone. No Panic, and a calm demeanor from both. A disaster averted by a Pro controller/instructor and a cool-headed young man who refused to die. My compliments gentleman!
Long as you do not have to much.... Then your flight surfaces fail to work.... To little speed and they fail to work to.... I think I head as long as they keep like 70 miles an hour they should be good, from watching a missionary pilot fly a Caravan in Papa New Ginny...
Well that had a 73 year old guy on the edge of his seat, and I confess a few tears in my eyes with such a successful outcome. No doubt lady luck and Mother Nature were on those guys side that day! Well done all of you, Your all heros in my book, hell yes.
“”The LORD GOD was with Darren Harrison, he even spoke about how he THANKED the LORD 🙏 when he landed 🛬 “” 📖 PSALM 121: 1 & 2 Awesome assurance of people who truly believe in the Almighty GOD.
"Hey uh, I'm feeling pretty comfortable with this... want me to take it to a taxi way?" I think Darren is going to become a pilot, lol Great job to all involved, and I'm glad ALL survived. Thanks to the creators, for such an amazing, and highly emotional, video.
"I think Darren is going to become a pilot, lol" Since it was a CFI who talked him down, I think the FAA should cut them some slack and allow him log it as "dual" based on it being such an unusual situation. And what a cool entry it would be to have in a logbook.
It’s amazing that you’re able to make your videos so thrilling and CINEMATIC while telling the story in a gentle, detailed way. So glad everyone lived, and so happy to get a new video!
@@FSMaNiA.. That was a great video. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The part I liked most was how you followed up with answering ALL the questions you must have known the viewers would have been asking themselves. Even before the end, I was wondering if the pilot lived and so many other things. The feedback from the people actually involved in this drama, sharing their feelings and thoughts was awesome. As I have already said, Great video, Cheers from Australia.
@@FSMaNiA , dang ! It might be my eyeballs were overdue for a bit of a rinse, but especially ATC's voice @ 18:30 "three lima delta, for now descend and maintain three thousand . . . ... we have ... a flight instructor and he's going to help you maneuver the airplane. . . " had me blubbering like a baby whose falling cradle was caught in a bear hug ! B---)
So the pilot had an aortic dissection going on. That's really bad, and often docs waste time thinking it's a heart attack. That's what happened to John Ritter and he died because of it. My Dad was luckier - he dissected while in a hospital bed and the doc consulting at his bedside on another matter recognized what could be happening. Six hours of emergency surgery saved his life. Ken the pilot had nine hours!
Yea that what happened to my brother-in-law. But he was in the drivers seat of an 18 wheeler that just happened to be at a traffic stop light. Fortunately at the hospital one Dr. realized what he was suffering and had him life flighted to a better hospital hat saved his life. They told him later he should not have lived through it and should have died in his truck seat.
Any chest-back pain is evaluated for other causes. A dissection can be detected on a chest X-ray , a ct scan or an echo. Loss of circulation or loss of function of lower extremities is another indicator- but is a late sign. Certainly an emergency and need cardiac surgery with a skilled surgeon.
They DID NOT auger in. Living folks, NOT dead. Every single part by everybody was divine. How beautiful to KNOW is that real Americans still exist. Glad for all. GBU All & your Families! Thanks for posting. Just subbed!
@@laurachurch6450 If that had been the case with Ritter, he would gave lived. Only three types of imaging studies can identify aortic aneurysms and dissections: CT, MRI and transesophageal echo. A chest x-ray or EKG cannot rule out dissection. It was his widow Yasmin's work in establishing The John Ritter foundation and The Ritter Rules that has improved professional awareness and response to emergency presentations of chest and back pain.
I have been thinking about this and I believe that most of the pilots could have a blood pressure test and oxygen finger monitor test before entering the plan and a hart restart in the first aid ⛑️ to help the pilots but planes must have adequate space to get out of the seat to enable safe removal from the plane instrument safety to help C/O/R and recovery position
I think the fact that the ATC and CFI maintained protocol probably helped Darren to maintain his calmness. It also probably made the approach/ appear more normal, if not routine. Also, the purpose of that nomenclature/convention is to ensure clarity when speaking over the microphone which would have been especially important since they were using an old fashioned handheld mic as opposed to headsets. For example, my name, "Charlie Oscar Lima Lima Echo Echo November" is clear when using dictation then "Colleen." My evidence is that I can't count how many times voice typing has transcribed my name as Colin or colon. Bottom line: Criticism is easy but not warranted.
Unfortunately, I must disagree. I found their conduct to be exceptionally professional. If they said something that was not understood, they rephrased. It's a great story and ALL are to be commended. Grace under fire, in my opinion. And, that Ken Allen has regained his health (thanks to amazing healthcare professionals) just makes the story even better.
@@kevingottlieb4764 I do not know, I can see it where Darren hearing them talking in the normal jargon then put it in normal terms like "I want you to fly the heading of 360 I mean North" could have helped where Darren could hear they where talking in a normal speak for them could help him stay calm where he could see them wanting to treat it like a normal landing...If they are relaxed then it could help him be relaxed, but they knew to speak in layman's terms for him to so he did not stress at not understanding something... Like I pointed out with fly the heading, I mean direction...
Another great production, Tim. One trait that both Darren and Doug White have is being calm and "in control" under fire. I wonder if the controller was nominated for the annual Archie award. He knew exactly what to say and when to say it, keeping Darren calmed down.
Thank you very much Ron! I just did a quick (Google search) check of the Archie Awards. I don't know if Robert Morgan KPBI Controller was nominated but he was not chosen for the 2022 or 2023 award. One thing that may have hurt him was not having a recording of the Motorola PET 2000 Emergency Radio Communications available. It's a shame they don't have a way to record those communications. I had to create those communications using information gleaned from various media interviews with both Robert and Darren. At any rate, it was a great outcome. Very good to hear from you. Text me sometime if you want to have lunch and catch up! Best regards, Tim
I'm blown away by what I just watched here! The story itself is amazing, but to have the PERFECT visuals to go with it made it outstanding! I'm glad you came up in my recommendations. Well done!
Wow. No idea why tears rolled down my cheeks when he said “We’re on the ground.”, lol. What a terrific story all the way around. It’s terrific that those on board had the focus to remain calm and get that thing down safely. Again, awesome story in every way. 👍🏻😎👍🏻
Thank you for putting that story together with such a well produced and edited video. I am amazed at how calm everybody concerned was able to stay, particularly those in the aircraft. Creds to Darren for getting as much information as possible from his remaining instruments too, for someone with no real world or sim experience that is quite impressive.
100 percent agreed with Darren’s performance. It’s obvious from the radio communications he knew very little about aviation but he kept his cool and saved three lives with excellent guidance from ATC. Thanks for chiming in and best regards. Tim
I was with my father on the morning he experienced and aortic dissection in 1997, at the time the survival rate was less than 5%, but he did survive. It is a true miracle that this man not only survived, but regained full function of his body, it is not uncommon to experience serious strokes and paralysis after experiencing an aortic dissection. God Bless all who survived, your Guardian Angel was hard at work that day!! ❤🙏
Great work to everyone involved!!! The entire team of people in this story are just every day people who were just doing their job that came together in a confluence of happenstance that turned out the way it did.
173 thousand views and only 355 likes. Cmon everybody, loads of work goes into creating this for us and all you need to do is hit one button. Thanks for a great video and great to see the actual pilot is doing good and even commented. Great job by everybody.
I agree. Me, I always liked first all the videos I watched 👀 then after watching them, if I liked their content, then I would subscribe right away after watching one of their videos. 😊
Well done. Thank you for sharing your experience. I'm a VFR pilot since 1975 and am sure your video and honest debriefing is valuable to the flying community and could certainly save someone a much worse scenario that you painted here. It's humbling but seriously important. Thanks.
Although I knew this plane landed successfully, I was praying for these three with tears in my eues! Thank God for the people who steered them in, the passengers who took control, the health personel who all worked to get this closed successfully!
They DID NOT auger in. Living folks, NOT dead. Every single part by everybody was divine. How beautiful to KNOW is that real Americans still exist. Glad for all. GBU All & your Families! Thanks for posting. Just subbed! Just amazing story……Profiles in Courage everyone. The Brother who helped remove the stricken Pilot and then stayed at the ready. No panic. No unsolicited advice which would just add distraction in an uber high stress environment . He was as courageous as any there. You know what I’m saying? This story is Blessing me like, all day. Thanks again for posting!
I remember this coming on the news. Good video bringing us the story as it played out, well all is well that ends well. Just one point, did the ATC not ask the two critical questions at the beginning, "How many persons onboard, and how much fuel do you have?".
The Fort Pierce Tower Controller did not ask the souls onboard or fuel remaining questions. It’s possible and probable that the West Palm Beach Supervisor asked on the emergency radio but those communications weren’t recorded. I haven’t seen a report or transcript of that portion of the communications.
Also kudos to Cessna for designing an aircraft that allowed an excellent ATC controller/flight instructor and a untrained, capable passenger to land safely.
Thanks Tim for bringing this to us, it had been quite a while since we last had one of your videos - great job. God's hands were all over this incident. Regards, Dane
The whole time I was watching this video I was thinking about my solo flight with just 16 hrs. experience and it was almost a Pepsi challenge. So for this man to land that aircraft without incident is phenomenal. Great job!
I have several hours in various small planes, never logged them... f I got my license, my solo would be the last time I fly without someone in the co-pilot seat with a clue, especially if there are other people in the plane.
I love this story because it actually has a great ending ! So thankful they all made it home safe and that the orginal pilot survived his horrific experience. God bless you all and thank you to the young man that talked Darren thru that flight.❤😊
Fanatastic video Tim. SImulations were as amaszing as the story itself. Grreat job in telling us how some people can rise to whatever the challenge might be. So glad the piloot survived as well.
This video made me very emotional! Just terrific! I really felt like I was in the pilot seat! Fantastic from everybody’s vantage point! I don’t know if I could ever be that calm!
marybarry2230 .. I would like to think I could be calm, In my dreams🤣but being in a situation like that is a different story than your dreams. That young bloke did an amazing job
He did sound as calm as most pilots on the radio for sure. He also used some aviation terminology which was helpful. One minor mistake was; pilots never use "10-4". We use, roger that, understood, or wilco (will comply). In an effort to avoid misunderstandings, we also repeat all ATC clearances back to the controller along with our aircraft's tail number. We can shorten the tail number to the last three after the initial contact with ATC, i.e., Caravan N333LD (Caravan triple three lima delta) can be shortened to Caravan three lima delta or just three lima delta. Everybody talks rapid fire on ATC frequencies to minimize frequency congestion (especially in busy airspace). We all understand each other because the phraseology is standard and we mostly know what the controller is going to say before they say it. We just listen for key info and then repeat if back for clarification. Probably way more information than you needed but good times! Cheers and best regards, Tim
I remember hearing that he had sat in the right seat of that aircr@ft on multiple occasions and in fact had flown it as well under the supervision of his friend in the left seat. Who knows. Seems plausible.
@fuzzyjax Don’t believe everything thing you hear. Darren never flew in the right seat of this Caravan with his friend coaching him from the left seat. Darren’s friend was not qualified to fly the Caravan.
WooooooooooooooooW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unbelievable !!!!!!!! Thank you to you passenger !!!!!!!! The Angel allowed you to join in that plane for a purpose and you did a good job !!!!!! Thank you to the control tower!,,,, Thank you to the instructor and guidance !!!!!!!!! Thank you to all of your professionalism and expertise and BEING CALM !!!!!!! I hope and pray the pilot is alive ! Thank you to the paramedics to be there as soon as the plane landed !,,,, Thank you to the doctors!!!!!
I remember reading about this! Being medical an aortic dissection is very serious. So good to hear he was able to have surgery and survived surgery. Seems like Russ just sat there! Geez, he was in the copilot seat when pilot Ken went unconscious and the plane then went rapidly into a descent. Russ says "I had to make a hard decision that Darren was going to be our best chance" Sounds like Darren was the only chance! If I were Russ not sure if I would be making public speeches! He was resting in the back, came forward to take control while Russ was sitting in the copilot seat! Congratulations Darren, luckily for Ken and Russ, you took control, managed your emotions, a true hero as you saved all three of your lives! True hero!
I note that Russ figured out the headset problem right away. I don’t know what else he could have done under these circumstances - except maybe hunt for a manual?
Russ did a good thing, an important thing. Remember he said the pilot's feet were near his hand and he kept tapping at Ken's foot. Thinking it might help keep him in the world of the living. That counts for something because Ken's diagnosis was extremely serious.
FS MaNiA is back, here I've been watching another great production of yours, it's been one year ... my glasses are foggy and ... just so good to have you back. Cheers!
It’s a shame he doesn’t want to pursue becoming a pilot because by all measures he has a natural ability for it and the right demeanor under the most stressful situations. Not everyone is capable of that level of critical thinking in those high stress situations. And the more you fully understand something the less stressful these things become because you are better prepared for it.
The pilot had an AAA (abdominal aortic aneurism) that partially ruptured. I have lived with one of those for more than a decade. The trick is to get regular checkups along with chest X-rays, or MRIs. Mine has been stable at a 3 CM bulge for a long time, so no worries, and I'm 84. A lot f people die from these because they go undiagnosed. Regular visits with a cardiologist can prevent that. BTW, John Ritter, among others, died from an AAA bursting. He was only in his 50s.
Aortic dissection Not to be confused with Abdominal aortic aneurysm or Aortic rupture. Aortic dissection (AD) occurs when an injury to the innermost layer of the aorta allows blood to flow between the layers of the aortic wall, forcing the layers apart.[3] In most cases, this is associated with a sudden onset of severe chest or back pain, often described as "tearing" in character.[1][2] Vomiting, sweating, and lightheadedness may also occur.[2] Damage to other organs may result from the decreased blood supply, such as stroke, lower extremity ischemia, or mesenteric ischemia.[2] Aortic dissection can quickly lead to death from insufficient blood flow to the heart or complete rupture of the aorta.[2]
Thank you kindly. I’ve been working on this one on and off for a few months. There was a lot of good information to try to pack in to 38 minutes. Happy to finally get it published. Cheers from Tim!
How did Darren even turn the aircraft when - as he said to ATC - he doesn't know what to do with his feet? Does this video skip the part where they talked him through using the flight controls? Anyway, the best part of the story is that Nobody Died(TM) - incredible that Ken made it through.
lets NOT use Gods Holy name as an expletive. one must Honor Jesus to get into heaven, dont forget. HE is the one who holds the keys to Heaven and hell, so chose your words carefully about Him.
I was on this flight praying over the operation of the Landon. I am thankful everything turned out great I think God because I like to fly the big planes but we have those times and I’m glad the real pilot recover. I am very grateful to be able to leave a message I pray for pilots all kind a buddy up there come up come down safely. God bless.
Excellent coverage i lived through the same Disection that the Pilot had thanks to some excellent Doctors and Medical Professionals ! in this event the Towers and the releif Pilot / Passengers did really great even more impressively. under that type of Pressure
He was fortunate to be flying with the right passengers and to have landed near a surgical center that had the capacity to accommodate his heart issue. Cheers
@Lauren-vd4qe take your conspiracy theory whackomaniac bs somewhere else where you have a gullible audience of Flat Earthers. Nobody with half a brain cell is buying what you’re selling.
Wow, great job by everyone, I can't fathom how calm the "pilot " stayed so throughout. Kudos to everyone including the Dr. who saved the actual pilot's life.
Another tense one! And that's knowing the story. Being a steam gauge fan, I have to wonder how screwed this guy would have been though if not for a big ol' PFD right in front of him. So glad for a new @FS MaNia powerful story.
Thanks much @KyleCowden. It seemed like Darren was having trouble finding the heading and airspeed data on the PFD. He was able to read altitude and vertical speed early on. I am also a fan of steam gauge’s since those are what I learned to fly with. I am also a fan of modern technology especially when it works. 😎
@@FSMaNiA It's probably silly but I trust mechanical over digital. I know, I know. They've been proven, torture tested, etc. I still have this nagging feeling that with one good bolt of lightening, *PFFFT*. Now you have the Windows BSD for instruments. Of course, when my grand son, who had trained mostly in steam gauges took his check ride, he was exactly on... not within limits, exactly on flying the G1000.
Sometimes it takes a village! What a bunch of wonderful fellers! I wondered the same question at the end of this video and I’m not surprised by Darren’s answer. LOL Truth is, if your going to frequently fly…best thing you can do is learn the basics of flying and familiarize yourself with the controls…just in case! Thankful this pilot survived thankful they all survived this flight! 🙏✝️☝️
This was really well made sir, you did a good job here. Nice touch mixing in actual hand motions for instruments and the cut wires on the headphones, made it feel like i was there! The radar replay in the top right corner during the press conference was also a great move. Amazing story perfectly delivered!!! Liked and subbed!
To the people criticizing the whole "he doesnt sound like an inexperienced pilot" He absolutely did (for those of us who are pilots... We can tell) however, what this guy did have was a calm composure, and he probably paid attention to quite a bit of the flying process with his buddy. This strikes me we a guy who became hyper focused, tuned everything else out, and worked with what he had... Didnt whip out a cell phone to make a tiktok, didnt scream into the mic.... Just a guy who didnt want to die that day. Flying is not this impossible thing people make it out to be, anyone with decent health and 4-5 braincells can be a pilot!
