Man suffers stroke while alone in aircraft, then is guided down by RAF wing commander flying next to him
By Cahal Milmo, Chief reporterSaturday, 8 November 2008
When the instruments on Jim O'Neill's four-seater Cessna aircraft became difficult to read, he assumed it was the glare of the sunlight as he flew over north England at 15,000ft. It was only when the dials blurred completely that he realised the full horror of his predicament: he was a solo pilot who had suddenly gone blind.
Struggling with the aftermath of a mid-flight stroke – which had put pressure on his optical nerve and robbed him of his sight in one eye and left him with very limited sight in the other – Mr O'Neill found himself unable to follow instructions from civilian air trafficcontrollers attempting to guide him to the nearest airstrip. Instead, an extraordinary rescue was launched when RAF staff, overhearing the emergency, offered to send a military plane to fly alongside Mr O'Neill and shepherd him in to land, issuing instructions to him over the radio.
Details of the amazing operation were revealed yesterday. Mr O'Neill, 65, a businessman with 18 years experience, was flying from Prestwick airport in Scotland to an airfield near Colchester, Essex on 31 October. At the end of the ordeal, he managed to land at RAF Linton-on-Ouse in North Yorkshire and emerged without a scratch.
Obeying orders to turn left or right and adjust his height and speed, it took seven attempts for Mr O'Neill, who runs a travel and conference booking agency, to manoeuvre his aircraft into the correct position, while a senior RAF instructor flew alongside him at a distance of just 150ft away.
Wing Commander Paul Gerrard, 42, was on a routine training sortie in a Tucano T1 turboprop plane when he received the order to come to the businessman's aid. "For me, I was just glad to help a fellow aviator in distress," said W/Cdr Gerrard. "I was just part of a team. Landing an aircraft literally blind needs someone to be right there to say 'Left a bit, right a bit, stop, down'. On the crucial final approach, even with radar assistance you need to take over visually. That's why having a fellow pilot there was so important."
Emergency crews were scrambled to meet Mr O'Neill's aircraft as it landed with two bounces halfway along the runway at the RAF base. He came to a halt just a few yards short of the end of the runway and was treated by RAF paramedics before being taken to a neurological unit. The blindness suffered by Mr O'Neill, who last night remained seriously ill at the Queen's Hospital in Romford, Essex, was caused by a haemorrhage in his brain putting pressure on the nerves at the back of his eyes, causing sudden blindness. Doctors must wait to find out whether or not Mr O'Neill has suffered permanent blindness. Once the swelling in his brain recedes, it is likely he will regain at least some of his vision.
Speaking from his bed, the pilot said he feared for his life and for the lives of people beneath his flight path, as he struggled for 45 minutes to make the correct approach and visualise the runway. It was only at the very last moment that the pilot saw enough to realise he was about to touch down and raise the nose of his plane to land.
Mr O'Neill said: "It was terrifying. Suddenly I couldn't see. The dials in front of me were a blur. I was helpless at the controls. I should not be alive. I owe my life – and those of dozens of people I could have crashed on – to the RAF." The entrepreneur, whose company earlier this year raised money for the Essex Air Ambulance, initially tried to land at Full Sutton airfield, near York, after issuing a mayday call and dropping to an altitude of 2,000ft.
Controllers explained how Mr O'Neill repeatedly apologised as he battled to reach safety, growing increasingly anxious as the drama unfolded.
Richard Eggleton, a radar operator who helped guide the blinded pilot, said: "You could hear the apprehension in his voice over the radio and the frustration he was experiencing."
The pilot's son, Douglas O'Neill, said his father had faced an almost impossible situation when he became blinded in one eye and had limited vision in the other. He said: "If you were driving a car it would be bad enough, but at 14,000ft it's a whole different ball game. He thought 'If I don't land the plane I will be dead,' but he showed incredible determination."
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