Darren Harrison was on a flight home from a fishing trip in the Bahamas earlier this month when the pilot, 64-year-old Kenneth Allen, lost consciousness. Allen suffered a tear in his aorta during the flight.
After Allen passed out, Harrison climbed into the cockpit. That’s when he saw that the plane was plummeting toward the water below them. Harrison grabbed a hold of the controls in order to straighten out the aircraft.
He said, “I knew if I went up, the airplane would stall. And I also knew that at the rate we were going, we were going way too fast, and it would probably rip the wings off of the airplane.”
He added that the moment was “the scariest part of the whole story.”
Harrison also reached out to an air traffic controller, Robert Morgan, in Florida, who would eventually guide him to a safe landing at Palm Beach International Airport.
During the harrowing descent Harrison recalled, “I don’t know what the outcome’s going to be, I don’t know how it’s going to happen, but I knew I’m going to have to land this airplane because there’s no other option.”
He added that he needed to get home to his wife, Britney. She is seven months pregnant with their first child.
In retrospect, Harrison asserted that the “hand of God” was with him.
Harrison said he prayed “the biggest prayer I’ve ever said in my life…including a prayer for Allen.”
After landing, Allen was taken to a hospital for treatment. He is expected to be released this week.