Man lands aircraft after blinded by stroke:

[Serviceman]

LONDON – A British pilot who was suddenly blinded by a stroke during a solo flight was talked safely down by a military pilot, the Royal Air Force
said Friday.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081108/ap_o...nded_pilot

An even better ending would be if the guy recovers his sight. Best Wishes

[xhado13]

I just read that off Comast.net

Sad story yes, but great to see the RAF pilot could talk him down!
Word is, hes recovering his sight while in the hospital.
Best of luck to him, and amazing job flying the plane down [b]blind



Post Edited ( 11-08-08 19:19 )

[Drew]

Sorry but the story is inaccurate

"You could hear the apprehension in his voice over the radio and the frustration he was experiencing," said radar controller Richard Eggleton.
"I kept saying 'Are you visual?' and he would reply 'No sir, negative, I'm sorry sir.' He kept on apologizing.

With Gerrard talking him down, O'Neill's plane hit the runway and bounced up again, the RAF said. It did the same on the second touchdown. On the
third, O'Neill was able to keep his plane on the ground.

makes it wound like he landed totally blind.

The RAF dude was on tv here, and said that he could see the runway out of one eye when he was 1/4 mile out.

Yes still a great achievement.

[Drew]

From another report

"In between all the instructions the wing commander kept asking 'are you visual with the runway?' But he kept saying 'no sir, I'm sorry sir. We
told him he was right over four runways at 2,000ft but he couldn't see them.

"Then with a quarter of a mile to go he said 'I've got it. Am I clear to land?' My heart was in my mouth. This could have gone very wrong so when the
Wing Commander announced 'he's down!' there was a huge sigh of relief.

[Joeflyer]

Amazing recovery. Glad the pilot landed safely

I'm sure the blind guy's landing in RT was far better than Tracker's WT landings Couldn't help it, Tracky

[ameval]

Really stunning story, wishing the best to the pilot

[SkyAirWorld]

apparantly he had is cat aboard...