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There are some well documented stories of non-pilots successfully landing airplanes after the pilot was incapacitated. Usually this involves radio assistance by ATC and/or flight instructors.

My question is whether there is any statistical data available about the success rate of such landings. I would judge success by the lives saved by the landing attempt.

I am aware that the term "non-pilot" is somewhat vague, in that it could refer to anything from a complete novice to a student pilot or even a GA pilot trying to land a commercial jet. Any kind of statistical data involving people punching above their weight trying to land an airplane in an emergency would qualify as an answer.

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    $\begingroup$ Interesting question - welcome to Av.SE! $\endgroup$
    – Ralph J ♦
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 14:06
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    $\begingroup$ My suspicion is that it would be difficult to get any statistically significant figures on these events because they happen quite rarely. This related question might be a jumping-off point, but of course the newsworthy events will be the ones where the talk-down was successful, otherwise the story would be simply "the plane crashed." $\endgroup$
    – randomhead
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 14:40
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    $\begingroup$ @randomhead That's exactly why I asked. News reports are usually not a good source for statistical data ;) So getting a feeling for whether there are 1, 10 or 100 catastrophic crashes for every successful landing is what I'm looking for. $\endgroup$
    – Ulli T
    Commented Apr 17, 2021 at 15:41
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    $\begingroup$ The problem is not every GA pilot that is incapacitated -- which is rare; 3 per 1,000 accidents (fatal or not) -- is accompanied by a passenger, and "flight assist" reports don't have a checkbox for success or fail (more than once a day a GA pilot asks for ATC assistance in USA). I've tried to put together a meaningful answer, but it's simply not possible. Too rare for a significant figure. $\endgroup$
    – user14897
    Commented Apr 28, 2021 at 19:33
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    $\begingroup$ How does it make any sense to close as "Opinion-Based" a question asking for stats??? Just because it turns out that such stats aren't kept - as far as any of us have found so far - why does the question need to be closed? VTLO, empatically. $\endgroup$
    – Ralph J ♦
    Commented Apr 29, 2021 at 1:52

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Unfortunately, an accurate answer would require the existence of a consolidated database created for the express purpose of tracking the type of "talk-down landings" posed in your question.

Although it's likely local ATC Facility logs would contain a reference (with details) to a "talk-down landing" (if one occurred at that facility) finding a central (National/International) consolidated record created for this purpose is very unlikely.

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  • $\begingroup$ Accepted. After a year without anyone finding relevant data on this, I think it is safe to assume that it simply doesn't exist. At least not in a condensed form that would allow statistical analysis. $\endgroup$
    – Ulli T
    Commented Apr 25, 2022 at 14:39
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I know of half a dozen successful talkdowns, not always due to incapacity, but more to do with say a student on first solo, losing a wheel on takeoff.

I dont know of any failures.

Stats hard to get, but any assistance is likely to vastly reduce the amount of 'accident'. Even if its steering the aircraft away from populated areas, slowing down, having services on standby etc.

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  • $\begingroup$ Way better than with no help (call for help). $\endgroup$
    – Robert DiGiovanni
    Commented Apr 17, 2022 at 16:06

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