US woman, 80, with no training, lands plane

Washington, April 3 (IANS) An 80-year-old woman in the US who had never flown before managed to land a small aircraft after her pilot husband passed out at the controls.

The woman then showed nerves of steel to safely steer the aircraft onto the tarmac of the Door County Cherryland Airport in Wisconsin.

"She took over the aircraft, she's not a licensed pilot and knows very little about flying aircraft," Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel said.

The twin-engine plane declared an emergency about 10 km south of Sturgeon Bay.

Her 81-year-old husband suffered a medical emergency and was unconscious, forcing his wife to take the controls, webnews portal wbay.com reported Tuesday.

In an attempt to land her safely, a certified pilot took off in a second plane and was able to provide instructions to the woman on the proper handling of the plane.

After running out of fuel in the right engine, she made a final approach at airport and was able to land the plane. The mid-air drama took place Monday.

The woman was taken to the hospital for minor injuries suffered during the landing.

Her husband was pronounced dead as a result of his medical condition.