"There was other things (going) against us, really. The light was going, it was getting dark, so we had to change runways with him," Murray said. The passenger, who was identified only as John, flew over the runway to familiarize himself with his landing target. Then he circled it again. And then one more time, just to be safe. "And on the fourth one, he managed it and (did) a beautiful landing, in my opinion," said Murray. Finally, the two-seater plane was safely back on the ground, just over an hour after the initial mayday call was made. Although the landing was successful, the outcome for the pilot was not. Humberside police said he died Tuesday night. Neither his name nor his illness was released, but police are not treating his death as suspicious. Paul Litten, the airport's commercial director, expressed his condolences to the pilot's family but said Murray's efforts had helped avert a far worse outcome. "The tragedy that could have unfolded was certainly mitigated," he said at a news conference Wednesday. Murray admitted it wasn't easy -- in part because he wasn't familiar with the cockpit of the aircraft involved. "The problem was that I've never flown that aeroplane. I have flown a Cessna 172 four-seater before, but like all aeroplanes and cars, switches are in a different position," he said. "With it being dark, I didn't want the lad to start looking around the cockpit and lose control of the aeroplane. So unfortunately, he (did) a blind landing, without any lights in the cockpit. All he had was the glare of the lights of the runway." With no lights, people on the ground could see only the silhouette of the aircraft as it came in on its final approach -- and could only hope for the best. Murray hadn't met John before this shared life-or-death moment, nor has he met him since. But the passenger was admirably calm in the cockpit and responded "quite professionally" despite the circumstances, Murray said. "I wouldn't be frightened to fly with him," Murray added.

A British schoolboy who was trapped in Abu Dhabi because of his acute fear of flying touched down in Britain today – after being hypnotised on the plane. Joe Thompson, now 12, had been due to fly back to Britain with his family last June after his father's work contract ended. But his acute fear of travel, including by boat or car, that developed in March 2012 meant he was unable to make the 4,500-mile journey back to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset.