A passenger on a private flight from New York to Massachusetts was able to get out of a horrific situation after the plane’s pilot suffered a medical emergency in midair, authorities say.
The 68-year-old woman took action and took over the controls of the six-seat plane at around 3:15pm on Saturday after the pilot “fell ill”. [the plane’s] Approaching” to Martha’s Vineyard, according to the West Tisbury Police Department.
The passenger landed the plane “on its stomach” with no landing gear in a patch of grass near a runway at Martha’s Vineyard Airport, the Massachusetts State Police said a press release.
The plane’s “hard off-runway landing” caused the left wing to “break in half.” said MSP.
The pilot had to be freed from the plane after the accident and is in a “seriously life-threatening condition,” the state police said. He was flown to a medical facility in Boston for treatment.
It is unclear whether the pilot’s condition was due to his unspecified medical emergency or also to injuries sustained in the crash.
“The passenger was not injured; She was evaluated at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital and released,” MSP added.
Martha’s Vineyard Airport did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
Police said the airport has reopened its short runway and is “slowly resuming” operations.
According to the MSP, the crash is being investigated by the State Police-Oak Bluffs Barracks, the State Police Detective Unit for the Cape and Islands District and the Federal Aviation Administration.
The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the incident, the Federal Aviation Administration said CNN in an opinion.