Inside Edition is reporting that it was the non-pilot wife of an incapacitated King Air C90 pilot who took the controls and successfully landed the twin at Bakersfield Meadows Field on Oct. 4. The program is identifying Las Vegas real estate agent Yvonne Kinane-Wells as the woman who managed to navigate the complex twin to the 11,000-foot runway at the former Air Force base. The show identified the pilot as Elliot Alper.
As we reported Monday, the plane took off from Henderson Executive in Las Vegas headed for Monterey, California. About two-thirds of the way into the flight, Alpers suffered an apparent heart attack. Kinane-Wells took over and, with help from pilots and controllers on the ground, got the plane on the runway, using up all 11,000 feet plus a little. The twin stopped on the overrun but was undamaged and the occupants uninjured by the excursion. Alpers was rushed to a hospital but his condition has not been released.
