Amateurs tested in flight simulator to see if they can land a plane.

The Washington Post conducted a simulation experiment to test whether inexperienced travelers could land a plane in an emergency. Six participants, including four with no pilot experience, were tasked with landing a simulated Airbus A320 after the pilots became incapacitated. None of the novice pilots were confident they could land a plane, and all struggled to varying degrees. The private pilot performed the best, surprising the experts, while the former airline pilot aced the test. The experiment showed that inexperienced travelers should never volunteer to land a plane in an emergency, and that disengaging the autopilot is a big mistake.