737 Passenger takes control of plane in emergency

Air Force pilot helped land commercial 737 jet after pilot had heart attack
Capt. Mark Gongol was headed home to Colorado with his family when urgent calls for a medical professional - and a pilot - came over the plane's speakers shortly after takeoff from Des Moines.

Gongol helped safely guide the plane, with nearly 160 people aboard, to an emergency landing in Omaha. NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
BY SASHA GOLDSTEIN
Monday, June 2, 2014

What are the odds there was a nurse AND a pilot traveling on the same plane?

A U.S. Air Force pilot has come forward to tell his story of helping with the emergency landing of a Boeing 737 with nearly 160 people aboard after the plane’s pilot had a heart attack Dec. 30. Another passenger, nurse Lunda Alweiss, helped save the pilot’s life.

Capt. Mark Gongol and his family were flying from Des Moines, Iowa to Denver after spending the holidays with relatives, the 13th Air Support Operations Squadron assistant director of operations at Fort Carson told the Air Force Space Command public affairs unit.

Just 30 minutes into the flight, the B-1B Lancer pilot noticed the aircraft’s engines begin to idle and the plane began to descend, he said.

"Over the public address system; a flight attendant asked if there was a doctor on board the plane," Gongol told the AFSC. "A few more calls went out for medical professionals and the flight attendants were all hurrying to first class with their beverage carts and a first-aid kit."
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