Passenger lands small plane when Duke professor piloting trip suffers fatal medical emergency
A passenger was forced to land a small plane in North Carolina over the weekend when the pilot – a prominent Duke University professor – suffered a fatal medical emergency.
Joseph Izatt was at the controls of a Cirrus SR-20 on Sunday afternoon when he suffered an unexplained health complication, WRAL News reported.
The unnamed passenger – who was the only other person on board – took over and safely landed the aircraft at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 4:50 p.m., the outlet explained.
“I knew I was witnessing something,” onlooker Eevan Caulfield told ABC11.
Caulfield, who is part of the Fuquay Fire Buffs, was listening to his radio scanner while dropping his daughter off at the airport when he heard about the incident.
He captured cell phone video of the paramedics loading an individual on a stretcher into the ambulance on the runway.
It was not immediately clear if Izatt was pronounced dead on the tarmac or later at the hospital.
According to the air traffic control radio, an individual in the passenger seat had taken over after Izatt “slumped over the controls,” ABC11 added.
The single-engine plane – which was registered to Izatt – had taken off from the Raleigh-Durham airport at 3:30 p.m..
Izatt was the Michael J. Fitzpatrick Professor of Engineering at Duke University and chair of the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering.
He had been at the school since 2001 and was a pioneer in medical imaging.
Duke announced Izatt’s death on Monday and ordered campus flags at half-staff in his honor.
“Since joining Duke in 2001, Izatt served the university through dedicated service to his students and colleagues, and as a pioneering researcher,” the tribute read.
Dean Jerome Lynch remembered his late colleague as “‘an exceptionally thoughtful leader who weighed every decision with a care that originated with his deep love for the BME community.’”
Throughout his career, Izatt published over 200 papers and held more than 75 US patents, ABC11 reported.
He is survived by his wife and three children, WRAL News added.
