Media caption Passenger John Wildey: "I hadn't a clue what to do to get down" 
 
 A pilot who fell ill at the controls of his plane forcing his passenger to land the light aircraft has died, police have said. 
 
 The man collapsed in the cockpit of the plane after taking off, leaving the "inexperienced" passenger to make an emergency landing. 
 
 The plane landed at Humberside Airport under the guidance of instructors called in by air traffic controllers. 
 
 Police said they were unable to confirm the cause of death. 
 
 A spokesman for Humberside Police said: "A post mortem is to be undertaken following the sad death of the pilot of a light aircraft which landed safely at Humberside Airport yesterday evening. 
 
 "The post mortem is likely to take place tomorrow afternoon. The results of the examination will determine whether it is necessary to prepare a file for reference to the coroner." 
 
 Image caption The plane was landed at Humberside Airport by a passenger under the guidance of two flying instructors 
 
 He added the death was not being treated as suspicious and said: "In accordance with the wishes of the family of the deceased, police will not be confirming the identity of the pilot nor releasing any video footage of the incident." 
 
 Police, fire and ambulance crews were called to the North Lincolnshire airport after a distress call was made from the light aircraft at about 18:25 BST. 
 
 Eyewitness saw sparks 
 
 Two flying instructors were called in to advise the passenger, named only as "John", on how to bring the plane down and a RAF Sea King helicopter was scrambled to provide assistance. 
 
 The man is nothing short of a hero Richard Tomlinson, Friend of the pilot and passenger 
 
 One of them, Roy Murray, said: "I think without any sort of talk-down he would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it." 
 
 The passenger and pilot were the only people on board the Cessna 172 aircraft, which had taken off from Sandtoft Airfield 25 miles (40km) away. 
 
 It is believed the two men had flown to Skegness and were returning to Sandtoft when the pilot collapsed. 
 
 Speaking at a press conference earlier, Mr Murray said the novice flyer did four circuits of the airport before landing at about 19:30. 
 
 He said: "The gentleman was called John, that's all I knew. 
 
 Media caption Deborah Zost, operations director at Humberside Airport, describes what happened 
 
 "We had to get him to do two to three circuits. The last one was not very good so we told him to go round again and on the fourth one he managed it. 
 
 "He did a beautiful landing in my opinion. 
 
 "He was calm. He was answering the calls I made to him quite professionally. 
 
 "I would not be frightened to fly with him." 
 
 Eyewitnesses described seeing sparks as the plane landed. 
 
 Stuart Sykes, who saw the aircraft land, said: "It came down with a bump, a bump, a bump, hit the front end down, I heard some crashing and it's come to a halt." 
 
 Two incoming flights were delayed while the aircraft was removed from the runway. 
 
 'Nothing short of phenomenal' 
 
 Richard Tomlinson, a friend of the pilot and his passenger, told BBC Radio Sheffield the passenger was "nothing short of a hero". 
 
 Media caption Flying instructor Roy Murray describing what he said to the passenger 
 
 He said: "For somebody who is not a pilot but has been around airfields and been a passenger on several occasions to take control is nothing short of phenomenal. 
 
 "The man is nothing short of a hero." 
 
 Mr Tomlinson, himself an amateur pilot, said of the man who died: was a "very experienced pilot". 
 
 He added: "He had been flying for many years. 
 
 "Only this week I was sat having a cup of tea and airfield banter [with both men]. 
 
 "They were both very funny gentlemen to have a conversation with. 
 
 "It is very, very sad news." ||||| A passenger has been forced to land a plane at Humberside Airport because its pilot fell ill, according to reports. 
 
 A passenger, who was on board the light aircraft when the pilot became ill at the controls, took over and landed the plane. 
 
 It's thought the passenger was helped with instructions given by two flying instructors. 
 
 The condition of the pilot is not known. 
 
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 A Humberside pilot is understood to have seen the landing while he moved his aircraft to make way. 
 
 Under the name 'Mike B', he posted on social media afterwards: "Just watched and listened to the most amazing brave passenger who landed at Humberside at night with a blacked out Cockpit and cross wind. 
 
 "The boy done well, never landed a plane before and sounded calm as a cucumber on the radio." 
 
 Humberside Police posted this, also on social media, after the incident: "Police and fire have been at humb airport tonight following a distress call from a pilot who became unable to fly while heading back to land. 
 
 "Thankfully the passenger landed the aircraft safely and without major incident. Condition of pilot is not known at this stage." 
 
 Roads around the airport were initially closed after the incident, but have now been re-opened. 
 
 It is understood flights are now landing again at the airport. ||||| Story highlights 1 flight attendant was trapped by chute, 2 were ejected, NTSB chief says 
 
 "Flying pilot" was training to fly a Boeing 777, adds Deborah Hersman 
 
 Sitting next to him was a man who was an "instructor pilot" for first time, she adds 
 
 The plane's main landing gear hit a seawall at the airport, followed by its tail 
 
 The pilot at the helm of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 was training to fly a Boeing 777 and was sitting next to a man in his first trip as an instructor pilot when their plane's main landing gear hit a seawall around San Francisco's airport, a U.S. official said Tuesday. 
 
 Deborah Hersman, the head of the National Transportation Safety Board, revealed these and other details during a news conference that included information about the pilots and their flying experience, based on the interviews they've conducted with investigators. 
 
 Having finished classroom and simulator training, the "flying pilot" -- as Hersman referred to him -- was in the piloting portion of his training to fly a Boeing 777 at the time of Saturday's crash. 
 
 He had flown 10 legs and had about 35 hours of flying time with the 777, which put him about halfway through the training required by Asiana of 20 legs and 60 flight hours, when the plane went down, Hersman said. 
 
 Sitting beside him during Saturday's flight from Seoul to San Francisco was the instructor pilot. The trip across the Pacific was the first time he had been an instructor pilot and the first time he'd traveled with the flying pilot, according to Hersman. 
 
 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – In this handout photo released by the National Transportation Safety Board, Asiana Airlines Flight 214 sits just off the runway at San Francisco International Airport on Sunday, July 7. The Boeing 777 coming from Seoul, South Korea, crashed on landing on Saturday, July 6. Three passengers, all girls, died as a result of the first notable U.S. air crash in four years. Hide Caption 1 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – A photo showing the damaged interior of the aircraft was released by the NTSB on July 7. The flight carrying 291 passengers and 16 crew took off from Shanghai and stopped in Seoul before heading to San Francisco. Hide Caption 2 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – An investigator photographs part of the landing gear at the crash site in a handout released on July 7. Investigators believe that the pilots were flying too slow and too low as they neared the airport on July 6. Hide Caption 3 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – An investigator inspects the broken-off tail of the plane in a handout photo released July 7. The crash killed two people, injured 182 and forced the temporary closure of one of the country's largest airports. Hide Caption 4 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – An investigator stands near the tail of the plane in a handout photo released on July 7. The NTSB has ruled out weather as a problem and said that conditions were right for a "visual landing." Hide Caption 5 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Investigators approach the crash in a handout photo released on July 7. Hide Caption 6 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Fire crews attempt to quench the blaze on Saturday, July 6. Hide Caption 7 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Smoke rises from the crash site across the San Francisco Bay on July 6. Hide Caption 8 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Asiana Airlines Flight 214 remains on the runway on July 6. Hide Caption 9 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – A plane sits on the runway on July 6 while emergency crews tend to the crash site. Hide Caption 10 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – A helicopter flies above the wreckage on July 6 as people observe from across the waters of San Francisco Bay. Hide Caption 11 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Travelers at San Francisco International Airport look at the departures and arrivals board after Asiana Flight 214 crashed on July 6. The airport, located 12 miles south of downtown San Francisco, is California's second busiest, behind Los Angeles International. Hide Caption 12 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Kevin Cheng talks on his phone as he waits in the terminal after Asiana Airlines Flight 214 crash-landed on July 6. He said he was supposed to pick up students who were on board the flight from Seoul. Hide Caption 13 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Passengers wait for the British Airways counter to reopen at San Francisco International Airport on July 6. Hide Caption 14 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Police guard the Reflection Room at the San Francisco airport's international terminal, where passengers from Asiana Airlines Flight 214 were reportedly gathering after the crash landing on July 6. Hide Caption 15 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – People are escorted from the Reflection Room at the San Francisco International Airport on July 6. Hide Caption 16 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Traffic backs up on U.S. Route 101 South in San Francisco on July 6. The Bay Area airport was closed to incoming and departing traffic after the crash, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. Hide Caption 17 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – People look over the wreckage across a cove in San Francisco Bay on July 6. Hide Caption 18 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Deborah Hersman, chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board, speaks to the press at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, before departing for San Francisco with an NTSB crew on July 6 to investigate the crash site. Hide Caption 19 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – The San Francisco Giants observe a moment of silence for those killed and hurt in the crash before their baseball game on July 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Hide Caption 20 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Crews comb the end of a San Francisco airport runway following the crash landing on July 6. Hide Caption 21 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – People in Seoul watch a news program reporting about the crash landing on July 6 in San Francisco. Asiana Airlines Flight 214 took off from Seoul earlier Saturday. Hide Caption 22 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – The plane crashed on July 6 around 11:30 a.m. (2:30 p.m. ET). Hide Caption 23 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – People walk past the wreckage of the plane's tail on July 6. Hide Caption 24 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – The burned-out plane remains on the runway on July 6. Passengers and crew members escaped down the emergency inflatable slides. Hide Caption 25 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Rescue workers tend to the crash site on July 6. Hide Caption 26 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Debris litters the runway on July 6. Hide Caption 27 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Airport shuttles arrive on the scene after the crash landing. Hide Caption 28 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Wreckage from the Boeing 777 lies on the tarmac on July 6. Hide Caption 29 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Crews surround the remains of the plane on July 6. Hide Caption 30 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Investigators pass the detached tail and landing gear of Asiana Airlines Flight 214 on July 6. Hide Caption 31 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – An aerial view shows the site of the crash landing between the runways on July 6. Hide Caption 32 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Smoke rises from the crash site on July 6 at the airport in San Francisco. Hide Caption 33 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – Fire crews work at the crash site at San Francisco International Airport on July 6. Hide Caption 34 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – The Boeing 777 lies burned on the runway after it crashed landed on July 6. Hide Caption 35 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – An aerial photo of the scene on July 6 shows the extent of the plane's damage. Hide Caption 36 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – The burned-out plane sits surrounded by emergency vehicles on July 6. Hide Caption 37 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – CNN iReporter Amanda Painter took this photo while waiting at the San Francisco airport on July 6. The entire airport has shut down and flights diverted to other airports. Hide Caption 38 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – iReporter Val Vaden captured this photo while waiting in a departure lounge at the San Francisco airport on July 6. Val observed the billowing smoke and emergency responders' rush in. Hide Caption 39 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – iReporter Sven Duenwald was at home on July 6 when he saw smoke rising into the air near the San Francisco International Airport. Hide Caption 40 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – iReporter Timothy Clark was standing on the eighth floor of the Embassy Suites Airport Hotel when he heard a loud crashing sound from outside. "My daughter told me she heard a plane crash. I used my camera to get a clearer view and I could see a dust cloud. Then people running from the plane, then flames," he said. Hide Caption 41 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – A photo provided to CNN by Eunice Bird Rah -- and shot by her father, who was a passenger on the plane -- shows flames and smoke bursting out of many of the aircraft's windows. Hide Caption 42 of 43 Photos: Plane crash-lands in San Francisco Plane crash-lands in San Francisco – David Eun, a passenger on Asiana Airlines Flight 214, posted this image to Path.com along with the message, "I just crash landed at SFO. Tail ripped off. Most everyone seems fine, I'm ok. Surreal..." It was one of the first photographs taken after the crash. Hide Caption 43 of 43 
 
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 That seemingly uneventful, more than 10-hour flight ended in a few chaotic, panicked minutes of fury, after which two people were dead and 182 others were transported to local hospitals. 
 
 "Sections of the cabin ... are found very early in the debris field," said Hersman, who had walked a few hundred feet from the seawall where the plane's landing gear and then tail first slammed into the seawall to where it mercifully came to a rest. "You can see aircraft parts, gallery materials, newspapers, magazines and flooring." 
 
 According to the pilots' accounts, the tensions started before the plane touched ground. 
 
 The three pilots in the cockpit -- another was in the cabin -- told investigators they set the "auto throttle" speed to 137 knots (157 mph), which is the speed it should have been going. Akin to cruise control, auto throttles are used to maintain a plane's speed. 
 
 At 200 feet above ground, the instructor pilot said he noted precision approach path indicator lights indicated the giant jet was too low. 
 
 It was then "he recognized that the auto throttles were not maintaining speed, and he established a go-around attitude," said the NTSB chief. "He went to push the throttles forward, but he stated that the other pilot had already (done so)." 
 
 Hersman cautioned anyone from jumping to conclusions as to whether a mechanical or pilot error is to blame for the crash. She also spoke specifically about the auto throttles, saying investigators were delving into how they were working and how they were used. 
 
 But Hersman also stated: "The crew is required to maintain a safe aircraft ... One of the very critical things that needs to be monitored on an approach to landing is speed. So we need to understand what was going on in the cockpit, and also what was going on in the aircraft." 
 
 2 dead, 182 injured -- including 2 ejected flight attendants 
 
 When it departed South Korea, Flight 214 had 307 passengers and crew aboard. 
 
 Despite the scale of the wreckage -- a hole burned through much of the cabin's roof and the aircraft's back half lopped off -- 123 walked away. 
 
 Others weren't so lucky, most of all the two Chinese teenagers who died in the crash. 
 
 Those working on the flight were among the injured. The third pilot in the cockpit cracked a rib. One flight attendant was temporarily trapped by an evacuation chute that opened inside the plane. 
 
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 Two other flight attendants were not in their seats at the rear of the aircraft when the plane finally ground to a halt, because they were ejected as the aircraft broke up. 
 
 "They were found down the runway and off to the side of the runway," Hersman said. 
 
 Many of those hospitalized have been released. At San Francisco General Hospital, for instance, 50 of the 62 patients are now free to go home. 
 
 But others still require care. 
 
 Four adults and one child in critical condition are still at San Francisco General suffering from internal bleeding, fractures and spinal cord, abdominal and traumatic brain injuries, according to the hospital. 
 
 Crew recall plane being too high, then too low 
 
 The "flying pilot" and "instructor pilot" who were in the front seat of the cockpit were not among the injured, according to Hersman. 
 
 Asiana hired the flying pilot in 1994, after which he reported amassing nearly 10,000 hours of total flight time. That experience included time piloting 737, 747 and A-320 aircraft, and he was a ground school and simulator instructor for the latter model. 
 
 The instructor pilot, a South Korean air force veteran with about 13,000 hours of flight experience, recalled Flight 214 being "slightly high when they passed 4,000 feet (and) they set vertical speed mode at about 1,500 feet per minute," explained Hersman. 
 
 But they ended up coming in low. The third pilot in the cockpit told investigators that, with "the nose ... pitched up, ... he could not see the runway," said the NTSB chief. 
 
 In the last few hundred feet before touchdown, the crew was making both lateral and vertical adjustments -- meaning they were both trying to move sideways to get toward the runway and adjust their height. 
 
 When the aircraft hit, it spun 360 degrees. An oil tank ruptured and leaked fuel onto the plane's right engine, starting a fire. 
 
 Eventually, evacuation chutes deployed, and at least seven of the aircraft's eight doors were opened. (An eighth was found on the ground, Hersman explained.) 
 
 Very soon after the plane stopped, tending to the wounded and the investigation began. 
 
 That probe will continue for months, though authorities have released significant details so far. So much information, in fact, the Air Line Pilots Association, for a second straight day on Tuesday, criticized what it called the "NTSB's release of incomplete, out-of-context information" that "has fueled rampant speculation about the cause of the accident." 
 
 The union further questioned whether some tools were available to the crew, claiming, for instance, that the "Instrument Landing System, a critical aid to pilots, (was) out of service." 
 
 "Without the full body of facts surrounding a catastrophic event, partial or incomplete information can lead to erroneous conclusions and, in turn, skew the perception of individuals' behavior," the pilots union said in its Tuesday statement. "This could then lead to misguided assessments of the crew's intentions and actions." 
 
 Hersman disputed the union's claims earlier Tuesday on CNN, saying the agency believes that transparent release of information is crucial. 
 
 "We believe that it is always better to put out the correct information and factual information so that bad information is not able to propagate," she said. 
 
 Aviation experts say that air crashes often involve several factors, and the San Francisco tragedy appears to be following form. Experience, training, crew actions, airport navigation, and now the possible role of a mechanical system are all in the mix. The NTSB is not expected to render a decision on probable cause for months. 
 
 During her news conference later Tuesday, Hersman stressed that "there's still a lot of work to be done." 
 
 "We will not determine probable cause while we are here on scene," she said, adding there's a lot of information to collect and analyze. "...I would really encourage all of you to be very cautious about speculating on the cause of the crash."
– After the pilot of a small plane fell ill at the controls, two flight instructors were called in to the airport to give his only passenger a crash course in not crashing. The passenger—who had no flying experience—managed to bring the plane in for a safe, though somewhat bumpy, landing at England's Humberside Airport. "He made quite a good landing actually," one of the flight instructors tells the BBC. "He didn't know the layout of the airplane, he didn't have lights on so he was absolutely flying blind as well," he says. "I think he'd flown once before as a passenger but never flown an airplane before." There were cheers in the control room as the passenger made a successful landing on his fourth attempt, says the instructor, who did his best to keep the man calm. "I think without any sort of talk-down he would have just gone into the ground and that would have been the end of it," he says. A pilot who witnessed the landing praised the "most amazing brave passenger who landed at Humberside at night with a blacked out cockpit and cross wind," the Lincolnshire Echo reports. "The boy done well, never landed a plane before and sounded calm as a cucumber on the radio," he said. Sadly, the BBC reports that the pilot died; the cause of death has not been given. (In another recent emergency landing, a plane was forced to come down ... on a California highway.)