Woman lands plane in California after her husband, the pilot, suffers medical emergency

A passenger took over and landed a small airplane after the pilot had medical emergency while flying from Las Vegas to Monterey in California last week, according to the Federal Aviation Authority.

Just two people were on board a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air 90 flying from Henderson Executive Airport in Las Vegas and to Monterey Regional Airport in California on Oct. 4 when the incident occured, FAA said.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will be leading an investigation into the incident alongside the FAA.

The passenger had no prior flying experience and took over the cockpit from her husband who suffered a heart attack, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal and Los Angeles Times.

Eliot Alper, 78, a real estate broker and founder of Spacefinders and Ramrod Realty, became "incapacitated" and his wife, Yvonne Kinane-Wells, stepped in to land the plane, Kern County Fire Department officials told the Review-Journal.

'We're going to set you up'

The passenger received help from air traffic controllers and made an emergency landing at Meadows Field Airport in California, more than 200 miles from their original destination, around 1:40 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Authority said in an incident report.

"We're going to set you up so that as you level off from your turn, you're going to be straight in for Bakersfield Airport," a person can be heard saying in audio recordings shared by LiveATC.net. "Is that alright?"

To which, Kinane-Wells responded with a "yes."

Emergency vehicles chased the plane down the runaway after it landed and met it as it came to a stop, the Review-Journal reported. Alper, who suffered a heart attack, was rushed to the hospital and later died, his office told the Review-Journal. No other injuries were reported.

He and Kinane-Wells had tied the knot earlier this year in February, according to the Review Journal.

'Unprecedented'

Director of airports for Kern County Ron Brewster, speaking to Inside Edition, said the incident to his knowledge was “unprecedented,” and he has “never seen" anything like this in his entire career.

The Kern County Fire Department did not immediately respond to USA TODAY's request for more information.

Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at sshafiq@gannett.com and follow her on X and Instagram @saman_shafiq7.