What if pilot incapacitated?

[SmoothLanderJ]

Originally Posted by calcapt

Haven't we all dreamed of being called to duty while riding in the back of an airliner? Could I land it? Could I as a 172 pilot actually land a 757 if I had to?
Come on, we have all dreamed about it.

MAN, you've got that right!! Even though I just fly Seminoles around right now. My friends (who aren't pilots) are always asking me.."so do you think you could land (an airliner) if something happend to the pilots"? Me:....YEP, everytime!!!..........(I wish anyway)

[jtrain609]

This might sound more daunting to somebody who hasn't dealt with the level of automation in some of these cockpits. Truth be told, in my aircraft you could pretty safely let George fly the approach down to 200' AGL before clicking him off and landing the airplane yourself. Now that isn't to say an unqualified crew member could figure out how to do this, but if you're comfortable with your automation it can reduce your workload greatly while you focus on getting the aircraft down to the ground.

I figure if I can manage a Chieftain single pilot, I could fly anything single pilot. To be honest, single pilot in an EMB-145 would probably be easier without having to deal with those damned turbochargers that were on the Chieftain

[Baronman]

I've honestly wondered if some of the less experienced FOs I've flown with could handle such an emergency such as me keeling over. Some of them still need a fair amount of coaching on visuals, crosswinds can cause trouble as well. Throw in some rain, night and yours truly not breathing on the floor and I'd say that's not the flight you want to be on.

[taseal]

if I was in a similar situation I might ask someone in the back who is a pilot to sit up with me...

god forbid something happens to me? at least the passengers might have a chance of living (the PPL or whomever could prolly be told over the radio to enter a setup for a CAT IIIc landing, and just let the plane do it's thing)

if I had to go on a flight tomorrow as a passenger and with my level of experience, I could probably setup the plane to fly the approach for me with the auto pilot and give my best shot at landing it, or like I said, let it auto land where capable (aircraft allowing of course)