On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, a passenger with no flight experience called Air Traffic Control in Fort Pierce, Florida airport and said, “I’ve got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. I have no idea how to fly the airplane.”

Around noon an air traffic controller named Robert Morgan was outside the tower reading a book on a break when his co-worker yelled, “There’s a passenger flying a plane that’s not a pilot and the pilot is incapacitated so they said you need to help them try and land the plane.”

Morgan was the man for the job. In addition to his 20 years in tower control, he is also a flight instructor with around 1,200 hours under his belt.

Morgan told reporters, “I knew the plane was flying, I just knew I had to keep him calm, point him to the runway and tell him how to reduce the power so he could descend to land.” Then Morgan proceeded to walk the first-time pilot step-by-step through the landing procedure for the Cessna Grand Caravan. Morgan even ran out to the tarmac and joyfully embraced his student.

Morgan said, “It felt really good to help somebody and he told me that he couldn’t wait to get home and hug his pregnant wife.”

Possible Preaching Angles:

1) Guidance; Mentoring - When disaster or crises arise, we need a wise mentor or guide to walk us through it. 2) Holy Spirit - The Holy Spirit is our flight controller who can guide us through the worst that life can throw at us (John 16:13; Rom. 8:14).