A passenger took control of Cirrus SR-20, a single-engine plane after the pilot suffered a fatal medical emergency mid-flight.
According to a report by WRAL, the plane successfully had an emergency landing at the Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina. Although it is unclear as to what the medical emergency was, Inside Edition says it was due to a heart attack.
The pilot was later identified as Joseph Izzat, a Professor of Engineering and the chair of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Duke University in North Carolina.
“He was an exceptionally thoughtful leader who weighed every decision with a care that originated with his deep love for the BME community,” said Pratt School Dean Jerome Lynch in a press release to the Duke Engineering Community.
Evan Caulfield, a bystander was able to witness and record the incident from the tarmac where it shows the landing of the plane as well as when Izatt was loaded by the paramedics to the stretcher. Afterward, the pilot was transported to a local hospital shortly.
The bystander shared that he felt mixed emotions as he witnessed the incident.
“Adrenaline, excitement, sorrow. All kinds of emotions,” Caulfield tells Inside Edition.
