Day 9: Saturday. I declared another 300k flight, but the conditions did not look good. I launched into blue skies with broken, choppy lift and managed to climb a thousand feet or so. Then there was a plaintive voice on the radio saying “Help, help!” Our tug pilot Paul Reynolds got onto the radio and answered the call. A Piper Archer light plane had taken off from Forbes a bit earlier and the pilot had passed out.
The passenger, a young lad, had a little experience taking the controls but had no confidence in landing the plane. Paul jumped into the tug plane and took off to keep track of the Piper. He got the passenger to climb the plane to a safe height and guided him to circle the airport. Paul asked me to get back on the ground, which of course I did straight away.
Paul did a great job of reassuring the passenger – there was plenty of fuel in the Piper so he kept him circling while the fire brigade and ambulance arrived at the airport. After half an hour, the pilot regained consciousness and took control of the plane. He sounded groggy on the radio so Paul pointed him towards the airport and kept asking pertinent questions about his height and speed. The man landed and bit short and with a big bump, but safely. He was taken away by helicopter to hospital but they couldn’t find anything obviously wrong. Opinions varied from a mild stroke to a heart attack. He was recovering well when we last heard.
Paul landed and helped taxi the Piper back to its hangar. By coincidence the incapacitated pilot owns the caravan park in town where Paul had been staying! The next day the man’s wife thanked Paul and said there would be no charge for his stay.
The local papers picked up the story in Parkes and Orange and Paul was interviewed for TV – a genuine hero!
