Would an air-traffic controller be able to tell you how to a land a passenger plane safely...?

Question

if the pilots were incapacitated? it wouldn't necessarily need to be an air-traffic controller, just someone on the ground talking to you over the radio.

Answer 1

Let me try to separate the wheat from the chaff here - allow me to take some extremes to explain...

You asked if *any specialist, including ATC* from the ground, could help a *complete novice* land a passenger aircraft, safely.

To rephrase, how effectively can an expert transfer his/her skills, over radio, to a novice to achieve *sufficient* safety? (We'll forget about the pilot being efficient here since this is a unique situation).

Well not very effectively, I'm afraid. Unless... (aha!) the event is *very* highly automated - meaning that both the aircraft equipage -and- the ground facilities have machines which collaborate almost perfectly for landing an aircraft with almost no human intervention.

That way, the transfer of knowledge from expert to novice over the radio would only be for tasks to manage the machines, instead of teaching raw piloting and navigation skills on the fly (no pun intended).

Put this hypothetical situation back into the real world and you can see 100's of things which could go wrong. So I would say that chances are *very* slim.

Answer 2

Watching Mythbusters are you ???

We are too!!! LOL

Answer 3

yes they could instruct you on how to do it,but with out experience,you wont pull it off,,it takes pilots hundreds of hrs on simulation machines practiv=ceing landing way before they even try..so yes they could tell you how,but doubtfull you can do it safetly

Answer 4

All the previous answers but Plinko's are wrong.  There is no way a person who is not experienced in piloting aircraft of a similar type and weight could ever possibly land one in one piece.  Just forget it.

But the thing that makes most of the answers wrong is the fact that this has never come up, and it never will.  Procedures are in place that ensure the crew cannot all become incapacitated at one time.  It has only happened on one morning in September of 2001.  It was a fluke event and will never happen again.

Also, the NTSB did a study about five years ago and discovered that 95 percent of all commercial flights are carrying a passenger who is also a pilot qualified in the type of airplane or a similar type to that one on which he or she is riding.

So the point is, don't worry about it.  It has never happened, and it won't happen.

By the way, the chances of an ARTCC staff being able to "patch you through" to an airline pilot on the phone are amazingly slim, so don't believe that one, either.  It makes a great movie, but none of these things will ever happen in real life.

Answer 5

They have done it alot of times before and they will do alot more in the future.

Answer 6

Yess.

Answer 7

It wouldn't be an ATC that talked you down...each airline has a head pilot and when a state of emergency is declared, the nearest senior pilot for that airline is brought in. They may be able to talk you through it but it depends on the size and type of the aircraft, the condition of the aircraft (any damage), the weather conditions, the size of the airport and runway options...in other words it would be a real hail mary type situation but it is do-able

Answer 8

They would patch you through to the airline where you would be talking to a pilot at that airline, who is rated in that particular aircraft and knows the configuration on that flight deck (thay vary between aircarriers).  You'd be instructed on how to set up the autopilot to intercept the Instrument Landing System somwhere.  The airplane may have autoland and you are just there to tweek the throttles and feed the dog.

Answer 9

The controller would need to be familiar with the aircraft in jeopardy. I expect were this to happen, the airline would bring in a chief pilot or another who is well familiar with the layout of the plane's controls. It would just be a matter of finding a passenger who had big brass one's and some knowledge of flying.

Answer 10

Yes, in bad weather when the pilots can barely see or they need help getting the plane down safely there's a system called ILS (Instrument Landing System) The pilot flies the plane down "Blind" meaning he cant see and he only can use his instruments the tower is there to help if any questions arise and if he/she is descending to fast (Sink Rate) or needs to slow down or pull up. Pilots barely look out the window, and they only land and takeoff most of the flight is auto pilot. In fact the Boeing 777 can fly itself land and everything all the pilot does is apply the brakes.

Answer 11

No, not unless the controller is also a pilot, has flown the type of plane in question or at least has received some flight training in a simulator. Many controllers are pilots too, but most are light plane pilots only without any large aircraft flight experience, so I very much doubt  that one could safely  "talk down" a non-pilot in an airliner. That would most likely require a pilot with a type rating in that particular make and model.

Answer 12

Yes they are fully trained to help pilots land the plane in any circumstances.