Raleigh passenger lands plane at RDU after pilot’s medical emergency, FAA says

RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — A passenger landed a privately-owned plane at Raleigh-Durham International Airport after the pilot experienced a medical emergency in the air, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

At about 5 p.m. Sunday, the passenger landed the single-engine Cirrus SR-20 plane at RDU’s General Aviation Terminal, the FAA told CBS 17.

Scanner traffic alerted crews of an inbound aircraft with an unknown medical emergency.

Evan Caulfield was dropping his daughter off at the airport when he heard the call over the scanner.

“It was quite a commotion out there,” he told CBS 17. “A lot of adrenaline. It’s like, what’s going on here?”

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When he arrived at the terminal, he said he saw the plane and three EMS units at the scene.

Airport officials said EMS treated one person and took them to a hospital. They said the pilot and the passenger were the only two people on the plane.

“I’ve heard of so many of those types of things happening, and he was lucky that he had a passenger that was able to land the plane,” Caulfield said.

“There are emergencies all the time and things people can do to help protect themselves,” he said. “Even in a plane, have a copilot or someone that knows how to fly a plane. It’s important for people to know what’s going on and the heroic efforts of EMS and fire and police.”

According to Flight Aware, the plane took off around 3:30 p.m. and started to land around 4:50 p.m.

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At this time, it is not clear where the plane took off from or where it was headed.

CBS 17 reached out to the pilot’s family to see if he’s ok and we have not heard back.

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