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I think the first obstacle for a layman to land a plane is to not panic and figure out how to work the radio (without pressing the wrong thing and accidentally

I think the first obstacle for a layman to land a plane is to not panic and figure out how to work the radio (without pressing the wrong thing and accidentally shutting down the engines or something equally disastrous) so they can then follow the instructions calmly. I’d expect most people that would fail would fail at this stage - if they can get past that, their odds improve a lot.

dlisboa 5y ago
That's exactly right. This pilot on YouTube did this test with a layperson and the main issue was getting comms up. It took like 20 minutes if I remember correctly, but after that the landing itself went alright. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw6mjVIdbbc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw6mjVIdbbc
im3w1l 5y ago
It's less of a disaster than you'd think. Even if you shut off the engines the plane can glide for a long time. So if you don't panic you will have time to turn them back on.
- pc86 5y ago
  You're right, but in this situation - a non-pilot is in a piston single with a pilot who becomes incapacitated - what are the odds they're not already panicking?