Plane Flies 250 Miles, Glides to Safe Crash Landing After Pilot Passes Out

A man who blacked out at the controls of his small plane flew 250 miles on autopilot and glided to a crash landing in a snowy field, waking up with injuries no more serious than a broken wrist, he said.

Dr. Bob Frayser, a family physician, was overcome by carbon monoxide fumes about 30 minutes into an hourlong flight Saturday from his hometown of Hoisington, Kan., to Topeka, 160 miles to the east.

The single-engine plane continued on course at a level altitude of 5,500 feet, crossing into Missouri and finally running out of gas as Frayser sat unconscious at the controls. The four-seat plane skidded 500 feet on its belly before crashing into a row of trees in a meadow in Cairo, Mo.

Frayser, 47, said Thursday that he woke up disoriented with a ringing in his ears and a terrible headache. He staggered about a quarter-mile to a house, where help was summoned.

“Most credit I give to the Lord,” he said.

Frayser walked away with a broken wrist, a few cuts around his left eye and bruises on his ribs from the seat belt.

Frayser had set the autopilot of his Piper Comanche 400 soon after leaving Great Bend Airport on his way to a meeting of the Board of Healing Arts.

A crack in the engine’s exhaust system apparently let the deadly carbon monoxide seep into the cabin’s heating system.