GA In The News — Good, Bad, And Ugly…

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Key Takeaways:

  • Jennifer Truman, with only a few flying lessons, safely landed a Piper Malibu in Laconia, N.H., after her pilot father became incapacitated.
  • Guided by an air traffic controller, Truman executed a "fairly decent landing" with no damage to the aircraft, despite her mother also passing out.
  • Carbon monoxide poisoning in the cabin was suspected as the cause of both parents' incapacitation.
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Neophyte Safely Lands Airplane…

A woman who had taken only a few flying lessons was able to safely land a Piper Malibu in Laconia, N.H., on Monday after the pilot, her father, became incapacitated. Jennifer Truman, 30, brought the plane back safely, talked down over the radio by an air traffic controller. “It was a fairly decent landing, a little bumpy,” Gilford Fire Lt. Michael Balcom told the Concord Monitor. “She came in and cut the engine right away. There wasn’t any damage to the plane.” The pilot’s wife, in the back seat, had also passed out. Early reports said carbon monoxide in the cabin was suspected. (Just because it’s summer, that doesn’t mean you’re safe.) The flight had left Laconia only a short time before. The parents, William and Diana Truman, both in their 60s, were taken to a hospital and their condition was not reported at our deadline.

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