Praise for 
cool and brave hero 
of mid-air drama

Instructor Roy Murray was called into action when air traffic controllers at Humberside Airport were alerted to the mid-air crisis by a mayday call from the Cessna 172 as it was heading back to its base at Sandtoft airfield, near Doncaster, at 6.20pm on Tuesday.

The pilot, who has not been named, was later pronounced dead.

Mr Murray, who lives 15 minutes away from the airport in Waltham, near Grimsby, was asked to help as emergency services rushed to the scene and the airport initiated its emergency procedures.

The 69-year-old said he was surprised just how calm the man he knew only as John was as he brought the aircraft down at the airport – in the dark and with no lights.

Mr Murray, who has been chief flying instructor at the airport-based Frank Morgan School of Flying for 31 years, said: “When I first arrived, the atmosphere was all calm, nobody was panicking and it was all very professional.

“All cockpits and controls are different and I didn’t want the passenger looking around and panicking, so unfortunately he did a blind landing.

“He had no light in the cockpit and all he had was the lining of the runway. I could only see the silhouette of him.

“I told him to keep calm and not to over-control the aircraft. When he landed, we all sort of shook hands and said ‘Thank God for that’.

“I’ve never seen the passenger, but he was calm and I think service control calmed him down and he was answering the calls I made to him.

“I wouldn’t be frightened to fly with him.”

He added: “My condolences go to the passenger and the pilot’s family at this very difficult time for us all.”

The pilot and passenger were the only people on board. The pair had set off earlier in the day and were heading back to Sandtoft when the pilot became too ill to operate the controls.

With the aid of Mr Murray and others on the ground, Mr Wildey, 77, who later told the BBC he had never had a flying lesson, eventually managed to land the plane safely about an hour later, at 7.30pm.

Describing the drama, Mr Murray said: “I got a call at about 6.25pm to come back down to the airport and provide some assistance. I was taken straight into the radar room, and they told me there was a plane overhead that they were planning to land.

“We managed to get them to do two to three circuits of the runway, and on the fourth attempt the passenger managed to land beautifully.

“We had one or two problems with the visibility as it was very dark. We guided him down the runway and thankfully made a successful landing.

“I only spoke to the passenger and not the pilot, and he said he’d never landed before.”

Airport commercial director Paul Litten said: “It was decided it was critical for a pilot instructor to be contacted to provide service.

“Roy was called and the plane landed safely at around 7.30pm. Roy’s role has been considerable in ensuring the plane safely arrived in one piece.”

He added: “We can confirm that a crash landing did not happen, but the tragedy that unfolded will certainly be investigated.”