Blinded pilot guided safely to ground

LONDON (AP) - A British pilot who suffered a stroke and lost his sight mid-flight was talked safely down to the ground by a military pilot, the Royal Air Force said Friday.

Jim O'Neill asked for help after he was suddenly blinded 40 minutes into a solo flight from Scotland to southeastern England last week. The BBC reported that O'Neill, flying a small Cessna aircraft, lost his sight 5,500 feet (1,676 meters) in the air.

"It was terrifying,'' O'Neill said. "Suddenly, I couldn't see the dials in front of me.''

The air force said in a news release that O'Neill initially believed he'd been "dazzled'' by bright sunlight, and made an emergency call for help. He then realized that something more serious was happening, and said, "I want to land, ASAP.''

RAF Wing Commander Paul Gerrard was just finishing a training flight nearby and was drafted in to help the stricken pilot.

"Landing an aircraft literally blind needs someone to be right there to say 'Left a bit, right a bit, stop, down,''' Gerrard said. "On the crucial final approach, even with radar assistance, you need to take over visually. That's when having a fellow pilot there was so important....

...In a recording posted to the BBC's news Web site, Gerrard gives O'Neill instructions _ "a gentle right hand turn, please,'' is called for at one point _ and he can be heard apologizing.

"You could hear the apprehension in his voice over the radio and the frustration he was experiencing,'' said radar controller Richard Eggleton. "I kept saying 'Are you visual?' and he would reply 'No sir, negative, I'm sorry sir.' He kept on apologizing.

"Being up there, on your own, without sight _ it doesn't bear thinking about.''

With Gerrard talking him down, O'Neill's plane hit the runway and bounced up again, the RAF said. It did the same on the second touchdown. On the third, O'Neill was able to keep his plane on the ground.