Distressed and Panicked Pilot SCREAMS in Radio | ATC Lauded for saving Two Souls

William and Cecilia Reid were travelling from their home in Clarksburg, West Virginia to Lake Placid New York in their Beechcraft Debonaire in order to visit family. It was the 1st of October 2016. They were climbing to 9,000 feet when something when something went terribly wrong.

Accident Facts

Cleveland Center suddenly got the following blood-chilling call. The Cleveland Center radar screen showed the flight at 8,100 feet, then 7,400; 8,500; 7,800; 6,900 and, finally, 5,000 feet. The controller wasn't sure what was happening.

The aircraft had hit a severe updraft and his wife clutched the yoke against the heavy buffeting. The stall warning went off during the unexpected climb and then the aircraft began to descend. The controller reasoned that if it was a mechanical failure, there wasn't much he could do.

If it was spatial disorientation, however, he might be able to help the pilot get back into control. The weather was not good; a "pea-soup" fog. The pilot initially wanted to continue on but after a bit more conversation, he chose to divert to Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, where he landed safely.

He phoned Cleveland Center to speak to the operations manager and then spoke to the controller in order to pass on this thanks. An hour later, they departed again and flew safely to Lake Placid