Passenger lands small plane when Duke professor piloting trip suffers fatal medical emergency
A passenger had to land a small plane in North Carolina over the weekend when the pilot, a prominent Duke University professor named Joseph Izatt, suffered a fatal medical emergency.
Joseph Izatt was piloting a Cirrus SR-20 on Sunday afternoon when he experienced an unexplained health complication.
The unnamed passenger, the only other person on board, took control and safely landed the aircraft at Raleigh-Durham International Airport around 4:50 p.m., according to the outlet.
“I knew I was witnessing something,” said onlooker Eevan Caulfield, who captured cell phone video of paramedics loading an individual on a stretcher into an ambulance on the runway. It wasn’t immediately clear if Izatt was pronounced dead on the tarmac or later at the hospital.
Air traffic control radio indicated that the passenger in the co-pilot seat had taken over after Izatt “slumped over the controls.”
The single-engine plane, registered to Izatt, had taken off from Raleigh-Durham airport at 3:30 p.m.
Izatt was the Michael J. Fitzpatrick Professor of Engineering at Duke University and chaired the university’s Department of Biomedical Engineering. He had been with the school since 2001 and was a pioneer in medical imaging.
Duke University announced Izatt’s passing on Monday and lowered campus flags to 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 Izatt as “an exceptionally thoughtful leader who weighed every decision with a care that originated from his deep love for the BME community.”
Throughout his career, Izatt published over 200 papers and held more than 75 US patents.
He is survived by his wife and three children.
