Vacationing USAF bomber pilot helps land Boeing 737 with 160 aboard after pilot has a heart attack

United Flight 1637 was returning off-duty Air Force Captain Mike Gongol, his family and 157 other souls from their Christmas vacation when disaster struck.

The Boeing 737's pilot suffered a devastating heart attack at 30,000 feet on the way from Des Moines to Denver, forcing Gongol to rush to the cockpit and help guide the plane to an emergency landing.

His heroic actions have gone unheralded until now, as Gongol recalls the dramatic moment he answered the chilling announcement on the December 30 flight, 'Does anyone know how to fly a plane?'

Gongol, who has flown supersonic B-1B Lancer nuclear bombers and works out of Fort Carson, Colorado, first realized something was wrong when 30 minutes into the flight he saw the engines power down to idle.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2646729/Off-duty-Air-Force-bomber-pilot-heroically-landed-Boeing-737-saving-159-passengers-pilot-suffered-devastating-heart-attack.html#ixzz33YktRGmO