Nightmare in the Sky
by David Barth
written June 1976
This is a factual story about Bob Scott, a non-pilot who volunteered fly as a passenger to help search for a downed plane. During that flight, he found that
he would have to try to save himself and the incapacitated pilot by taking the controls himself.
Bob Scott had no aviation experience when he began flying as a traffic reporter for radio station KHOW in the early 1970s. As a non pilot, Bob flew as an observer,
reporting rush hour traffic. As a public service, KHOW let their plane be used for search and rescue operations, forest fire control, and other emergencies, on the
condition that a KHOW reporter could go along on the flight. Non-pilot reporters, like Bob, who went along on these flights were referred to as "white knuckle
reporters."
One December, after a particularly severe snowstorm, there were three aircraft missing in the Colorado mountains. The Civil Air Patrol was short of search aircraft,
so they requested the use of KHOW's plane, a Cessna 210. Bob went along as the observer.
The search area assigned to their plane was in the mountains between Aspen and Denver. Bob and the pilot searched their assigned area until their fuel was low.
They landed at Aspen to refuel, then headed back to Denver. Near Mosquito Pass, the pilot climbed the plane up to 16,000 feet to cross the high mountainous terrain.
The plane was not equipped with oxygen which is recommended for flight above 12,500 feet. Then the pilot told Bob that he was going to ask him a strange question.
He asked, "Which way is the sky?" Bob thought is was a trick question and answered, "Why, up, of course!" Then the pilot said, "I think I'm going to pass out."
Suddenly, Bob saw the pilot slump forward in the seat, restrained by his shoulder harness.
Bob didn't know anything about flying a plane, but he knew it wouldn't fall out of the sky. He had helped work the radio during flights like this one, and he knew the
emergency frequency. He tuned the radio in to it and asked for help. He wondered if anyone had heard his plea for help, but at an altitude of 16,000 feet, his radio
call was heard by scores of airports in the Rocky Mountain region, monitoring the emergency frequency.
An air traffic controller at Stapleton International Airport answered his call and gave him a quick course in how to fly an airplane. Then the controller asked Bob,
"What are your intentions?" Bob had the option of flying the plane to Denver, but since it was getting dark, he realized that he would have to make a night landing
when he got there, so he told the controller that he would try to descend into the valley he was flying over and attempt a landing while there was still daylight.
He was over Fairplay, which didn't have an airport, but from fishing trips he had taken in that area, he knew there were some large, flat meadows that might be
suitable for him to crash-land the plane in the remaining daylight and, maybe, survive.
Stapleton tower told him he would lose radio contact with them as he descended into the valley, but to leave the radio on. Bob figured he was going to be all alone
with the plane and the unconscious pilot during the crash landing. He didn't know that the tower had alerted several emergency organizations including the Civil Air
Patrol, the Colorado Highway Patrol, and the Fairplay rescue unit which immediately activated members there.
Bob didn't know about slowing the engine to begin a descent. He simply pushed forward a little on the wheel, pointing the nose of the plane into a slight dive. In
retrospect, he said the plane must have really been moving fast with the power setting for cruise flight, sort of like going down a steep hill in your car without letting
up on the gas.
Bob leveled the plane off near Fairplay, looking for a big meadow to belly into. Suddenly, someone began talking to him over the radio. It was a Western Airlines
707, high above him. Bob couldn't see the jet as it circled overhead. The Western pilot had spotted Bob's plane, far below, and he was familiar with the type of
plane Bob was about to try to land. He advised Bob not to land in the meadow, but, instead, to make several low passes over a long, straight stretch of Colorado
Highway 9, about three miles south of the town, to check for wires and other obstructions across the road. When he made his three passes over the road, the
Highway Patrol and volunteer rescue units realized that Bob was likely to try to land there.
Bob flew low over the road and didn't see any obstructions, but he worried about the cars on the highway. By his third pass, he saw that the Highway Patrol had
blocked off the road for several miles, giving him a clear path to try to put the plane down. Bob was scared, and as he contemplated the possible outcomes of his
landing attempt, he swore that if he lived, he'd never fly again.
The airline pilot told Bob to ease the throttle back to slow the plane and instructed him which levers to operate to lower the wheels and the flaps. He had Bob read
the airspeed often to make sure the plane didn't get too slow. Bob made a final circle back to the road. This was his final approach. He wanted to get this
nightmare over with. He lined up with the road and slowly pulled the throttle back as instructed by the airline pilot. Bob's plane touched down on the road, and
to this day, after 5000 hours as a pilot, he says it is still the best landing he has ever made.
He managed to keep the plane on the road as it rolled to a stop, undamaged. Climbing out, he could hardly stand. His legs were like rubber.
After seeing that Bob's landing was successful, the airline pilot got back on course and continued his flight. The unconscious pilot of Bob's plane was taken to
the hospital, suffering from pneumonia, with a temperature of 104 degrees. His pilot's license was revoked.
Bob did fly again. His boss at the radio station talked him into taking flying lessons, and he began doing his own flying for KHOW, reporting on traffic and
news events.