The Decision for a Dead-Stick Landing
With all other options considered, the pilot decided to make a “dead-stick landing,” where the aircraft would be guided to land with no power. It relied on the altitude and the design of the aerodynamic plane to touch the ground without breaking it. Dead-stick landings are some of the most challenging maneuvers a pilot can ever attempt to make. The maneuver requires the highest precision because there will never be a chance to power up the engines if anything had gone wrong.
The pilot checked out the nearest landing strip and started guiding his plane toward it, working out descent and glide angles very precisely. Every decision in those short few minutes would signify what the landing would become. A dead-stick landing has little leeway for making mistakes, and the pilot had to gauge the right time to deploy the landing gear, flaps, and all in preparation for touchdown.
When the aircraft started its descent, the co-pilot kept his hawk eye on the instruments, which facilitated calculations and adjustment that were timely to be done. He apprised the air traffic control about the position of the aircraft in terms of descent and the expected landing path. The crew of aircraft was performing as a well-oiled machine where everyone fulfilled their duties to make sure that it would land safely with meager fuel left in the aircraft.
