Well done to all involved!!

[tutgby]

BBC NEWS | England | North Yorkshire | Blind pilot guided to land by RAF:D (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7715345.stm)

[PPRuNeUser0139]

Absolutely amazing..
I'd like to read the full story when it emerges.. but it's right up there with the inadvertant Lightning flight by the wg cdr eng..
Well done to all concerned.:ok:
sv

[ehwatezedoing]

Station Commander at RAF Linton-on-Ouse, Gp Capt Mark Hopkins, said: "The Royal Air Force has the best pilots and air traffic controllers in the world.
Cool, now go and tell this to Chuck Yeager :}

Nice rescue by the way.

[Taff Missed]

One has to wonder WIH he was doing at 15,000 :eek:in a "two-seat Cessna" and whether it caused the blindness?

[GOLF_BRAVO_ZULU]

Or did he "drift" up to 15,000 in the interval between the initial call and the Tucano arriving, in the absence of any awarenes cues? I think, personally, I'd rather risk hypoxia than unity with the scenery.

Top marks to both aviators.

[KeepItTidy]

Fantastic story and well done to all involved. :D

I just hope his condition gets better and he pulls through to be able to thank the guys that helped him out. :(

[cazatou]

ehwatezedoing

Re Chuck Yeager

You will note that the quotation from the Stn Cdr was present tense - Chuck Yeager fought in WW2 and was a Brigadier General in 1969. I was not aware that the USAF employs pilots who are more than 80 years old.

[Low Flier]

A cracking yarn, even if only half true.

[dh108]

Amazing story. Surely deserves some recognition this one.
I wish Mr O'Neill a speedy recovery from illness.

[Wensleydale]

BBC Radio are reporting that the pilot suffered from a stroke. He is fortunate to be still with us.

[doubleu-anker]

A job very well done indeed to the rescue pilot.

Glad the victim was smart enough to call for help when he did and the back up was there when he needed it.

This calls for a gong at least, IMHO.

[Razor61]

The Cessna was a T-182T Turbo Skylane, more than capable of 15,000ft i think?

[Linedog]

T-182T Turbo Skylane
Capable of 20,000'

Cessna T182T Turbo-Skylane (2003) Aircraft performance and specifications (http://www.pilotfriend.com/aircraft%20performance/Cessna/new%20upload/T182T%20Turbo-Skylane.htm)

[flash8]

Not that I read the "People" (honest guv) but I was surprised it stated that the a/c involved was a "4 seater Cessna Jet" with a picture of a biz jet and a Tornado on the page.

[soddim]

The collective achievement in this instance should not be likened in any sense to the inadvertent Lightning flight in th 60's by the Wg Cdr Eng. In this case outstanding airmanship and ATC resulted in a safe landing. In the case of the Lightning the cause of the incident and the recovery of the aircraft was the sole responsibility of the good Wg Cdr.

[EyesFront]

Good effort all round, and nice to see some sensible, restrained reporting by the BBC for a change.

[PPRuNeUser0139]

soddim:
The parallel I was making between this incident and the Lightning episode was that while both situations were ones in which the person flying the aeroplane must've thought - this can't be happening to me - the cause of each and the way they were resolved are clearly different.
Not sure which one would be worse - flying blind (literally) or sat on a safe ejection seat, with no comms, in a Lightning..

[TyroPicard]

Except I think he was seated on an empty orange box....

[airborne_artist]

Not sure which one would be worse - flying blind (literally) or sat on a safe ejection seat, with no comms, in a Lightning..

Of course the blind pilot was at least current on type, whereas the Wing Cdr was a bit lacking in hours on type, and hours in general :E

[Report Line]

Check this out!

Blinded pilot guided to safe landing by RAF after suffering mid-air stroke - Times Online (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article5107128.ece)

[Report Line]

OK - lesson learned!

Bu**er!

[XV277]

One does wonder about the press - this gave me the best laugh this week:

A fighter jet was scrambled to fly alongside the stricken plane and the crew talked him down.....


......The RAF said a fighter plane used for training pilots was sent up to intercept Jim's Cessna. It had been modified so it was able to travel at a slow enough speed to fly alongside the Cessna.

Pilot goes blind in mid-air but RAF talk him down safely - The Daily Record (http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/2008/11/07/pilot-goes-blind-in-mid-air-but-raf-talk-him-down-safely-86908-20875670/)

[kevmusic]

Just saw this reported on Sky News. The Cessna was a "Cessna jet", the graphics showed a Citation, and although the Tucano was reported as such the graphics showed a P51!! :hmm:

[Knight Paladin]

BBC website now has radio recoding of the last few minutes.

[vanHorck]

From a civilian MEP pilot to the RAF: Jeez guys, well done! listening to the audio of the talkdown, I can say i was truly moved!

[The Scarlet Pimpernel]

Nice one Gervaise (if you're reading this!) :ok:

Saved a man's life and possibly someone else's on the ground by your skill - hats off to you!

[beamender99]

OP
BBC NEWS | England | North Yorkshire | Blind pilot guided to land by RAF (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7715345.stm)

now has an interview with his son

[Grabbers]

Awesome. Well done gentlemen/ladies involved.

[airborne_artist]

Superb bit of PR for the RAF - the CFI made it sound as if he does that every day. Not forgetting that he was flying his own aircraft at the same time, I imagine :ok:

[Melchett01]

:D cracking effort! Finally something to make us all proud of being in the RAF amongst all the doom and gloom.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery - you're not going to be short of stories in your local after this one.

[Ivor Fynn]

Well done Gervaise,

Bloody good effort, nice one mate!

Ivor:D:D:D

[DozyWannabe]

I try and avoid gushing unnecessarily as a rule, but I have to say this was a stunning piece of work. I hope the guy makes a full recovery.

[4Greens]

Did my training at Linton on Ouse many moons ago. Its great to see that professionalism is still around. Well done to all concerned.

[airmail]

Absolutely well done to the team that helped him down:ok:, however I think that we should also salute the gentleman concerned who showed remarkable composure given the circumstances that he found himself in. I hope that I would act in such a way should it ever happen to me.

[WPH]

You could say it was great foresight! I've already collected my coat....

[GasFitter]

Just seen it on the ITV News.

1. Stn Cdr was wearing his poppy on the wrong side.
2. The hangar floor was a complete and utter state with the cameras there! So much for contractorisation ..... no Sqn WO.

What is the RAF coming to?

[taxydual]

A clean hangar floor or a guy's life saved. Your choice.

[visibility3miles]

Great job! Talk about cool under pressure...

[Guzlin Adnams]

All concerned are a credit to the nation. With so much bad news around just now it's good to hear something positive. A speedy recovery to the pilot of the Cessna.
Well done again to all....time for some beer!!! :D

[Faithless]

Outstanding to all involved :eek: :ok:D:D:D:D:ok:

[Hobgoblin]

Super job! Well done to all concerned:ok:

[Biggles225]

Taxydual, this may be showing my age, but why not both?
Gervaise, it was a :mad: good job!

[KeyPilot]

Awesome, awesome, awesome. Listening to the ATC tape was indeed quite moving. In this age of spin and presentation it is a delight to see a dire situaton resolved without loss of life through some good old-fashioned skill, professionalism and coolness under pressure.

Well done to all - ATC, Wg Cdr and Jim - and best wishes for a speedy recovery to the latter!

[taxydual]

Apologies Gasfitter and Biggles.

That wasn't one of my better responses and totally uncalled for.

Again, my apologies.

Regards

[GasFitter]

A clean hangar floor or a guy's life saved. Your choice.

Both ... please!

[taxydual]

I'll certainly operate the broom. The other, I'll leave to the professionals.

At the end of the day, I thank God we have those professionals.