April 2, 2012: This photo shows the plane an 80-year-old woman was able to land after her husband went unconscious
Shortly after 5:00, the Door County's Dispatch Center got an unexpected call, from an aircraft in trouble.
"A couple in their 80's were flying and he went unconscious due to a medical condition he had. She took over the aircraft. She's not a licensed pilot and has very little on flying an aircraft," explained Door County Sheriff Terry Vogel.
The couple had been flying a Twin Engine Cessna airplane.
When the call came in, officials say the aircraft was about six miles south of Sturgeon Bay.
And the situation would only get worse.
At about 6:05 p.m., the woman told rescue crews she needed to land immediately. Her right engine lost power because it was out of fuel.
Luckily, authorities called in a local pilot.
"We got him up into an aircraft and he felt it was easier for him to give her instructions, for him to determine for instance, her speed in the air and how to instruct how to successfully land that aircraft," Vogel said.
Eventually, through radio contact, that pilot was able to do just that.
But it wasn't necessarily a smooth landing.
"I saw them come down, and then like the nose of the plane just bumped, then they kind of flew back up and then they landed," said witness Zoe Hirthe.
Authorities say the woman was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
Her husband was also taken to the hospital.
Officials say he was pronounced dead from the medical condition that cause him to lose consciousness on the plane.
"We're very proud of her for doing what she did. It was a very difficult situation with her husband unconscious next to her. It took a lot to collect her thoughts and get that thing landed," Vogel explained.
The Sheriff's Department is not releasing the names of the couple or the pilot that helped guide the plane down.
However, they say the couple is from the Sturgeon Bay area.
The Federal Aviation Administration will help investigate the incident.
More details are expected to be released on Tuesday.
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