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Creep Radio is a spine-chilling weekly podcast hosted by the Master of Creep, uncovering eerie tales, true crime, and the darkest corners of the paranormal world.
Creep Radio
When the Dead Take Control: The Mysterious Flight of Leo Bernstein
A routine family vacation turns into a terrifying test of survival when experienced pilot Leo Bernstein suffers a catastrophic stroke mid-flight. His wife Janet, with barely 20 minutes of casual flying experience, suddenly finds herself responsible for the lives of seven people including four young grandchildren. What follows defies explanation and challenges our understanding of reality itself.
As panic engulfs the cabin and Leo slips in and out of consciousness, air traffic controllers connect Janet with an experienced Cessna pilot who attempts to talk her through the basics of flying. But something strange begins to happen – the aircraft appears to resist Janet's inputs, taking control of itself. Meanwhile, Leo mumbles incoherently to someone named "Marty" – a person his family has never heard of.
The impossible unfolds as the aircraft executes a perfect turn, aligns with the runway, deploys its landing gear and flaps, and touches down flawlessly at Amarillo Airport – all seemingly without human intervention. Days later, Leo reveals two chilling facts: Marty was his fellow pilot and friend who died years earlier, and the aircraft's autopilot had been completely disconnected for months.
Was this a miracle of technology, a coincidence of extraordinary luck, or something beyond our comprehension? The FAA report offers a simple explanation, but those who lived through it know differently. Join us as we explore this haunting case that asks us to consider what might exist beyond the boundaries of life and death. Listen now and decide for yourself what – or who – landed that plane.
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AHHHHH, welcome to Creep Radio, where we dive deep into the dark, the bizarre and the unexplained. Dim the lights and lock your doors. Prepare to get creeped out because the unknown is calling. And we're about to answer. I'm your host, the Master of Creep. Well, hello, my little creepies. Yes, it is that time again. I'm the Master of Creep and I have a story for you. It's called Aircraft Lands Without the Pilot.
Speaker 1:The year was 1975 and Leo Bernstein was borrowing the company's plane. It was a beautiful Cessna 402, which is a twin engine aircraft. Now, this particular aircraft was only about four years old and it could seat up to eight passengers, including the pilot. Leo was a very experienced pilot, with over 18,000 hours of flight time. He flew light aircraft for an oil and gas company. He flew light aircraft for an oil and gas company and one of the perks of having this job was that Leo could use the plane occasionally for personal use, why all he had to do was pay for the fuel and some other related fees.
Speaker 1:Leo was taking his family on a weekend vacation to Six Flags Over Texas. His passengers was his wife Janet, his daughter Brenda and four of his grandkids ranging from 4 to 14 years old. There were seven people on board, including Leo, the pilot. Leo's Flight Plan, leo, planned to take off from Colorado Springs and land in Dallas, texas, at Redbird Airport. The date was July 2, 1975, and the weather called for overcast skies and occasional rain showers, but this wasn't a problem. Leo was instrument-rated, which meant that he was certified to fly through clouds, losing complete sight of the ground. An instrument-rated pilot can navigate using instruments only with the help and coordination of flight controllers on the ground. Leo's flight called for three hours and 37 minutes, with one planned stop in Amarillo, texas. Now this aircraft could fly non-stop, but when you're traveling with kids, you better plan to break up the trip a little bit to make it easier. Now, before I go any further with this story, I want to tell you that yours truly yes, the Master of Creep is a pilot. I want to give you some background information about me. I have been flying for more than 50 years. I got my pilot license in 1971, which makes me older than dirt. But more about this story. You know, nowadays some small aircraft can self-land in an emergency. All the passengers need to do is activate the emergency landing system by pushing a button. But Leo's airplane did not have this feature because this was back in 1975.
Speaker 1:The first leg of the trip went smoothly. Leo and his passengers took off from Colorado Springs and landed in Amarillo without any problems. They broke up the trip into two sections so that they could have lunch in Amarillo and then it was on to Dallas Redbird Airport. Leo expected the trip from Amarillo to Dallas to take about an hour and 45 minutes. The weather between Amarillo and Dallas was expected to be light rain, with a cloud base of 3,700 feet and the top of the clouds to be about 11,000 feet. Leo filed an IFR that's an instrument flight rules flight plan that called for a cruising altitude of 13,000 feet. Why this would put the plane about 2,000 feet above the clouds, and Leo said that this should be a nice smooth ride into Dallas.
Speaker 1:Problems in the air Leo pulled back on the aircraft's yoke and lifted the Cessna 402 into the air at 95 knots. Well, that's equal to about a 110 miles per hour. Leo put the landing gear switch up after the plane was about 60 feet off the ground and the aircraft now was traveling at 125 miles per hour. And then the plane reached 700 feet above the ground and Leo raised the flaps into the up position. The aircraft was performing as expected. Leo said his goodbye to the control tower and he changed the radio frequency to the Amarillo departure control. This is where he activated his IFR flight plan and he received instructions regarding altitude, speed and course. This is a normal procedure for pilots and Leo had done this thousands of times before.
Speaker 1:The Cessna 402 has two engines. Each one was a 300 horsepower turbocharged continental engine with a three-blade constant speed prop. Cessna considers the 402 as the workhorse of the industry. Why? This is a great, all-around plane, capable of short trips for smaller airports with shorter runways, one of the most popular twin-engine aircraft ever made. The Cessna climbed through the light, rain and clouds into the big blue sky at 11,000 feet and then continued to climb to the cruising altitude of 13,000 feet.
Speaker 1:Now here's where the problem started. About 25 minutes into the flight, leo suffered a major stroke and he slumped over the yoke, which put the Cessna into a slight dive. His wife, janet, let out a scream and pushed Leo back into his seat, into an upright position and leveled off the plane. Janet yelled for Brenda, her daughter, to help. Something's wrong with Leo, help me, help me. Brenda unbuckled her seat belt with the help of her 14-year-old child, and they managed to get Leo out of the pilot seat and moving back into one of the passenger seats and buckled him in. Now Leo was still alive and he was going in and out of consciousness.
Speaker 1:Janet took over flying the plane, but she had less than 20 minutes of flying experience, and that was when Leo let her take control of the wheel for a previous trip just for fun. But this wasn't fun at all. This was panic time. How in the hell am I supposed to land this thing, asked Janet. She had positioned herself into the pilot seat and put on Leo's headset. She pushed the talk button and talked into the headset radio mic. Help me, someone, please help me. A voice on the other end immediately responded who is this? Janet explained the situation to the controller, who instructed her on how to stabilize the aircraft. Janet receives a fast course on flying.
Speaker 1:It was during the next 15 minutes. Janet was given instructions on how to keep the Cessna 402 straight and level, and then the controller taught her how to change the radio frequency. And soon they connected her to a Cessna 402 pilot who was in the tower, someone who was very familiar with that aircraft the person on the other side of the radio was Jack Hampton. He had thousands of hours of time in a Cessna 402, and during all this time Leo was starting to come to, but he still couldn't move. All he could do was talk. The only problem was Leo was talking nonsense, brenda yelled out to Janet. Leo is talking, but he's not making any sense. He seems to be talking to someone named Marty. Who the hell is Marty? Janet said I don't know, but at least Leo is alive and that's a good thing.
Speaker 1:Now Jack continued instructing Janet on how to fly, but Janet started complaining about something. Something's wrong. She said it seems like the controls were fighting her. And Jack said what? And Janet said yeah, I tried to turn the aircraft to the right, but there seems to be some force trying to turn me back to the left. And Jack said oh, oh, that's a good thing. That means your aircraft probably has an autopilot which is trying to keep you on course. Jack went on to say that we could use the autopilot to fly the plane back to the airport. This will make everything a lot easier. So Jack started teaching Janet how to use the aircraft's autopilot.
Speaker 1:Now, while this was going on, leo was still alive and he was talking. Leo continued to talk to someone by the name of Marty and Brenda asked Leo who's Marty? But Leo didn't respond to Brenda's questions at all. He just kept on talking to his imaginary friend Marty. Leo was saying things like Marty, I need you, Can you help out an old friend, marty, I need you to take over. I can't move, just take over and get us back home. And Brenda asked Janet again who is Marty? Janet said I have no idea, but you must handle Leo, I'm going to focus on flying the plane Now.
Speaker 1:During all of this time, jack was watching the progress on the radar. Then he noticed that the plane had just taken a right-hand turn and started flying back toward Amarillo. Jack asked Janet on the radio did you just make a right-hand turn? Janet said no, I guess. I guess the autopilot is doing that on its own. Jack went on to ask well, did you turn any of the autopilot's knobs? Did you make a change to the heading? And Janet said no, I'm just sitting here watching everything happen. Jack said well, okay, I don't understand this, but whatever you're doing, it seems to be working and the Cessna started to descend through the clouds all on its own.
Speaker 1:The plane flew back toward Amaryllis Airport and aligned itself with the runway and it lowered its landing gears and flaps. Jack was watching this from the tower, as the plane was in total control. Jack was in disbelief and the plane landed perfectly and came to a safe stop. Jack said out loud there's not an autopilot in the world that could do that. And of course he was right. There was something else going on. Jack asked Janet, did Leo regain consciousness? How did you do that? And Janet said I don't know, I guess it was the autopilot. Jack said no way in hell, but I guess it didn't matter.
Speaker 1:The plane was back on the ground and it was met with an ambulance to rush Leo to the hospital. And it was met with an ambulance to rush Leo to the hospital. Leo makes a recovery, but his pilot days are done. After spending several days in the hospital, leo comes to and Janet is there waiting for him. Leo said I don't remember a thing about the trip. Janet said I thought we were all going to die.
Speaker 1:Janet explained to Leo that he had passed out in the middle of the trip and that she, along with the help of Jack and the control tower, had managed to get the plane back safely. Janet asked about Marty. Who the hell is Marty? Leo said I do remember talking to Marty. He's an old friend of mine. Back in the Air Force Marty was also a pilot and a friend of Leo's. They used to hang out together in Leo's younger days.
Speaker 1:Leo said Marty was killed in an auto accident many years ago. And Janet asked were you talking to Marty? And Leo said yes, I do remember talking to Marty. I was asking him for help in landing the plane to Marty. I was asking him for help in landing the plane. And Janet said no, no, it was the autopilot that took over and landed the plane. And Leo said okay, listen, I'm too tired to argue with you. I need to take a nap. But I just want you to understand.
Speaker 1:The autopilot in that aircraft hasn't worked for months. In fact, it was completely disconnected. Janet's jaw dropped to the floor. What you mean? A ghost landed the plane. Well, now, janet is a believer in ghosts. Over some time Janet started believing that a ghost named Marty landed the plane. Report from the FAA stated that Janet, with the help of Jack, successfully brought the plane back to Amarillo and landed, and Janet had to sign off on the incident report. To bring the case to a close, she said it was much easier to claim that she had landed the plane on her own rather than to explain something about a ghost named Marty. So that was the official story. However, leo, janet and Jack all knew that the autopilot had nothing to do with the landing of the plane, and then, from that day forward, every Thanksgiving, janet and Leo set a place at the table for Marty. Brenda and the kids finally got to go to the Six Flags Over Texas theme park, but they took a train. Thanks for listening to Creep Radio theme park, but they took a train.