The passenger who assisted in the plane’s landing after the pilot became “unconscious” is recounting the incident.

Darren Harrison recently discussed how, despite never having flown before, he was able to land the single-engine Cessna 208 plane successfully on May 10.

It was a question of life or death, he said Savannah Guthrie in an interview that aired on Monday. “Either you take action to manage the situation, or you’re going to perish, and that’s what I did,” the speaker said.

The pilot informed the other passenger, who was the pilot’s friend, that he “didn’t feel good” while the 39-year-old was returning from a fishing trip in the Bahamas.

Harrison claimed that he rapidly inquired as to what needed to be done, but the pilot had already stopped speaking by that point.

He entered the cockpit and noticed that the aircraft was nose-diving and traveling “extremely rapidly” over the open sea.

Harrison also made it apparent that the pilot never fell forward onto the controls, despite what had been reported earlier.

The passenger who assisted in the plane’s landing after the pilot became “unconscious” is recounting the incident.

Darren Harrison recently discussed how, despite never having flown before, he was able to land the single-engine Cessna 208 plane successfully on May 10.

It was a question of life or death, he said Savannah Guthrie in an interview that aired on Monday. “Either you take action to manage the situation, or you’re going to perish, and that’s what I did,” the speaker said.

The pilot informed the other passenger, who was the pilot’s friend, that he “didn’t feel good” while the 39-year-old was returning from a fishing trip in the Bahamas.

Harrison claimed that he rapidly inquired as to what needed to be done, but the pilot had already stopped speaking by that point.

He entered the cockpit and noticed that the aircraft was nose-diving and traveling “extremely rapidly” over the open sea. Harrison also made it apparent that the pilot never fell forward onto the controls, despite what had been reported earlier.

“At that point, I realized that if I didn’t do anything, we would all perish,” the passenger recalled. Harrison claimed that he positioned his arms above the pilot’s body and reached over to seize the controls. Then he “pulled back on the stick and turned” gradually.

“How did you determine that?” Guthrie, 50, enquired.

The visitor remarked, “I think it was just common sense. “I was aware that the plane might stall if I reached up and pulled.” I also realized that we were likely traveling at a dangerously high rate of speed that would cause the plane’s wings to be torn off.

Harrison added that “the scariest aspect of the whole incident” was the initial few minutes before he could speak to anybody on the ground.

He put on the pilot’s headset after entering the cockpit barefoot but discovered that the cord was torn and unplugged.

He then asked the other passenger for his headset so he could speak to air traffic control, who gave him instructions on how to land securely.

Harrison claimed that after landing, he “slowly feathered” the brakes as the aircraft descended the runway.

“I was taken aback by how at ease I was with it. Hey, I’m feeling quite good with the brakes and everything else, I radioed the guy.

Harrison asked, “Do you want me to turn off the runway so I can empty this thing out?

Harrison claimed that as the aircraft finally came to a halt, he shouted “the largest prayer I’ve ever spoken in my life,” flung the headset on the dashboard, and thanked the man on the other end of the line.

Even though he prayed for everyone’s well-being, he claimed that his main concern was “for the guy at the back.”

Since I knew it was a bad situation, he explained.

It’s encouraging that Harrison informed Guthrie that the pilot should be discharged from the hospital on Monday.

According to the passenger, the aviator was not expected to survive when he was initially rushed to the hospital following the accident.

Harrison claimed that his wife Britney, who is expecting their first child, was the first person he called after returning to Earth.

Harrison responded that God was his center and his strength when asked how he managed to stay focused on what was vital during the terrifying time.

He told Guthrie, “The hand of God was on that plane.” “That’s the only thing I can think of to explain it, there’s nothing else.”

On that day, Harrison radioed into Fort Pierce Tower at Treasure Coast International Airport in Fort Pierce, Florida, and told controllers that the pilot was unconscious and that he had never flown before.

According to audio that NBC News got, Harrison said, “I’m in a tough spot here.” “My pilot is no longer making sense. I don’t even know how to fly the plane.”

When the dispatcher asked where the plane was, the passenger said, “I have no idea. In front of me is the coast of Florida. And I have no idea.”

From there, the dispatcher told the passenger how to fly the plane and get around in the sky.

The FAA says that controller Christopher “Chip” Flores and operational supervisor Justin Boyle told the pilot to fly straight ahead and start a slow descent so that air traffic control could find the plane.

Joshua Somers, an operations supervisor at Palm Beach’s air traffic control facility, helped track the flight and found that it was about 20 miles from Boca Raton Airport over the Atlantic Airport.

Harrison was eventually put in touch with air traffic controllers in Palm Beach County.

The Palm Beach County controllers then got in touch with Robert Morgan, a certified flight instructor who worked at the Palm Beach air traffic facility and had experience flying a Cessna (though not that model).

Morgan agreed to show the first-time pilot how to get to Palm Beach Airport.

In an interview with the Federal Aviation Administration, Morgan talked about the incident that made headlines. He said that even though the situation was tense, it was still business as usual in the end.

Morgan said, “At the end of the day, I just feel like I was doing my job.” “But it was harder than you thought you would have to do it.”

The FAA said that the plane landed safely on the runway at 12:27 p.m.