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80-Yr-Old WOMAN Lands Plane For Dying Husband Pilot
In an audio recording released by the Door County Sheriff’s Department, 80-year-old Helen Collins sounds calm as she performs an emergency landing of a small plane after her husband dies at the controls.
AUDIO CLIP OF 80-YEAR-OLD PILOT HELEN COLLINS SAYING: “I’m getting all these instructions and I’m not paying attention to where I’m flying.”
PILOT ROBERT VUKSANOVIC, PILOT WHO HELPED ADVISE 80-YEAR-OLD HELEN COLLINS, SAYING: “Ok, you’re doing great Helen. Just stay on that and I’ll be up with you in about two minutes. I’m airborne.”
COLLINS SAYING: “I’m looking, oh, I see you.”
VUKSANOVIC SAYING: “Ok, I’m going to stay right here at this position all the way around the pattern until we come in to land, ok?”
COLLINS SAYING: “You better get me in it pretty soon. I don’t know how long I’m going to have gas.”
VUKSANOVIC SAYING: “Yeah, we’re doing good. We’re coming around now. We’re going to make one big pattern and I’m going to be right on your wing all the way in. I’ll be able to tell you if you’ve got to go up or if you’ve got to go down. You have not put any flaps down, is that correct?”
COLLINS SAYING: “That’s correct.”
VUKSANOVIC SAYING: “You need to power back. Power back, power back. Off. Off. Leave the power off. Power off! Power off. Power off. Power off. Nose up. Ok you’re down. Great job Helen! Great job!”
Story: An 80-year-old woman with very little flight experience took over the controls after her pilot husband’s fatal collapse, landing their twin-engine plane as it was running out of gas Tuesday.
Helen Collins and her husband, John, were both taken to the hospital. He was pronounced dead, while she was held for observation, local officials in Wisconsin said.
The couple had flown their twin-engine Cessna from Georgia to their home in Sturgeon Bay, in northeast Wisconsin, before the pilot was stricken.
Helen Collins took the controls and radioed the airport and was told to circle while a local pilot was called for help. The pilot, Robert Vuksanovic, took off in his own plane to guide her down.
Despite her husband’s condition, Vuksanovic said Collins was able to concentrate on landing the aircraft.
“She was confident. Now, she wanted to know if I was confident in her confidence. And I said, ‘Well if you’re confident, and I’m confident. I think we’re confident. I think we can do this.’ And so she felt confident enough to concentrate on flying the airplane. And I think she was able to just move that issue to the side until the landing occurred.”
“And Helen never quit flying the airplane until the minute the EMT extracted her – egressed her from the aircraft. We were just absolutely astonished at her performance. She is the true hero. She saved her life,” Vuksanovic said.
After two failed passes, Collins radioed that one of her engines was sputtering and losing power as her gas supply dwindled. She landed hard on the third try, collapsing the nose gear, but skidding to a stop with the plane intact.
Reuters
Posted by
kapuli wa ng'ongo
April 6, 2012 at 9:08 am
Bravo, Helen Bravo!
Message in the reality story is let your spouses and some of your older children learn to drive, the skill can be of great help, not at ”ntwaleniko ku Manda Hill”
atm
April 6, 2012 at 10:05 am
Walasa kapuli wan’gongo.
eDi
April 6, 2012 at 11:42 am
The story iz absolutely amazin.That’s true heroism.Bravo old lady!!!!!!
Bravo
April 6, 2012 at 5:41 pm
Great old mum!!! Thankx to your guardian angel. Lesson to our wives who fear to drive.
AsaMunda
April 6, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Va upuba! Ba mambala imwe!
Powerz##
April 6, 2012 at 7:47 pm
Now that’s wassup!!! i dig that old lady— she’s kept her “for better for worse marriage promise” even in dyin’ moments…i salute you my lady…
muzimuwache
April 7, 2012 at 10:29 am
Thanks old mum and thank Jah for that knowledge.
chiingu
April 7, 2012 at 12:57 pm
GOD can perform wonders
dass
April 7, 2012 at 3:02 pm
RESPONSIBLE PIPO RIGHT THERE.Not ifi ifipuba ifitukanafye amasele pa net epobwacela.
malata2
April 7, 2012 at 4:55 pm
ths little knowledge was very important.really our wives nid tht knowledge about driving
Bee Master
April 8, 2012 at 2:17 pm
Dat ws great mama,kip it up.
K-SQUE
April 9, 2012 at 9:14 am
Wow,bravo grandma! just lik watchng a movie.sme could jst be shaking,cnt even locat wher buttons are.Praiz be 2God.
muzaona
April 9, 2012 at 9:32 am
Bravo mama ne mama nga nibe nangu sembe sikulila mpaka kufa
Litunga
July 16, 2012 at 11:23 am
Seleloko…. kuti wainyelawila nafuti kumwenso..in presence of beautiful journalists..
ManBuka
August 6, 2012 at 12:27 pm
Viva Grandma Hellen @80 yrs!!