US Woman With No Flying Experience Lands Plane After Pilot Has Heart Attack

A woman with zero flying experience safely landed a private plane after the pilot, who is her husband, suffered a heart attack on October 4 in Nevada, USA. According to reports, the couple was flying from Las Vegas to Monterey when Eliot Alper's health began to deteriorate at a 5,900-foot altitude. His wife Yvonne Kinane-Wells, a real estate agent, stepped in and sought air traffic control assistance to guide her through the emergency landing.

Brave Woman Lands Plane Without Experience

The couple had taken off for California on a two-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 plane from Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas. Moments later, Alpers, 78, became unable to control the plane and lay slumped in the pilot's seat. Kinane Wells, 69, took control of the situation and called air traffic control. The audio of her interaction with the agent shows her panic as she speaks in a shaky voice, navigating the instructions. 

The ATC official calmly advises Kinane Wells to add more power before directing her to the nearest airport. "We’re going to set you up so that as you level off from your turn, you’re going to be straight in for Bakersfield Airport. Is that alright?” the agent can be heard saying. After the real estate agent confirms, the agent walks her through the landing process as they arrive at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield, California.

Soon after landing, the Kern County Fire Department immediately took Alper to a hospital. His current condition is unknown. Kern County’s director of airports, Ron Brewster, told the Daily Mail, "It’s to my knowledge unprecedented. I’ve never seen it in my entire career." According to Inside Edition, Alper's niece lauded Kinane Wells with a message on Facebook, "Yvonne, you are a hero for being able to land that plane and walk away safely under so much stress."